Charter drafters cap House seats at 500

Charter drafters cap House seats at 500

The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has initially set the maximum number of House seats at 500, but has yet to decide the number of constituency MPs and party-list MPs.

CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said the panel has finished deliberating charter provisions involving the origin of MPs and agreed to cap House seats at 500.

However, the ratio between constituency MPs and party-list MPs is not yet decided.

He said the CDC is looking at how the proposed mixed-member apportionment (MMA) electoral system will lead to the creation of nominee political parties gaining more seats as feared.

Under the MMA, a single ballot would be used for both constituency and party-list MPs. Votes cast for the losing constituency candidates will be used to calculate the number of party-list seats, and not discarded as under the old first-past-the-post system.

"We'll have to take everything into consideration and come up with measures to prevent it [MMA] being exploited," he said.

He said rules to ensure fair and free elections will be covered by an organic law governing the system, not the charter.

The CDC chairman also gave assurances the new charter will stick to the principle of decentralisation of power, but pointed out that not all local organisations are ready for this so details would be written into separate laws.

He said mechanisms to rein in corruption in local administration organisations will be as rigid as those at the national administration level, which means corrupt local politicians will also face being barred from politics.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party leader Virote Pao-in said yesterday the party stands by the charter recommendations it submitted to the Borwornsak committee.

He said the party will give its opinions and advice to the Meechai committee when appropriate.

So far key Pheu Thai members have come out against the MMA electoral system out of concern it will go against the will of the people. 

Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, former member of the now-defunct National Reform Council, and academics from the National Institute of Development Administration, yesterday voiced concerns the MMA will be problematic.

The votes cast for winning candidates will not be included in a count for the party-list system, so the party-list MPs will effectively represent unsuccessful candidates, he said.

"They don't reflect the popularity of parties among voters. They don't represent a fair and just principle," he wrote on his Facebook.

He also said the MMA could lead to complications if candidates were suspended by the Election Commission. That would mean a vote count for a party list could not proceed.

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