The parliamentary system must be re-established immediately after the election and appointed senators should be allowed to vote for a prime minister of their own choosing, a seminar was told yesterday.
Thammasat University vice-rector Prinya Thaewanarumitkul criticised the current constitution, formulated in 2017, for delaying the country's quick return to the parliamentary system.
The charter gives the Election Commission (EC) 60 days to endorse and announce official election results.
"In other countries, the poll results would be known shortly after the election, so a government could be formed right away. But Thailand is rather a strange case because the 2017 constitution stipulates a 60-day period for the endorsement of poll results," Mr Prinya said.
"So far the official results are not known. This must change," he added.
The seminar, held at the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), ran under the banner, "Stop becoming polarised. Listen to people's voices before forming a government".
Mr Prinya added the EC's controversial formula for calculating and allocating party-list seats had merely exacerbated the problem.
"This is a transition to democracy. It is now necessary for us to put the parliamentary system back in place," he said.
He said the next government must be formed in line with democratic rules, not by "cobras". This refers to renegade politicians who defy party resolutions by voting for a prime ministerial candidate in parliament.
Mr Prinya said the 250 appointed senators should be able to vote for anyone vying to be prime minister, regardless of who appointed them.
Peerawat Chotthammo, president of the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, called for the 250 military appointed senators to be independent.
The senators can contribute to the parliamentary system by thinking and acting independently rather than being dictated to by those who selected them, he said.
TJA president, Mongkol Bangprapa, called for the senators to abstain from voting for a prime minister and allow MPs to try to sort out the problems associated with the formation of a government first.
"The senators should abstain from voting. By doing so, they will show that they accept that the power to make such a decision rests with the House of Representatives," Mr Mongkol said.
Under the current constitution, the 250 senators appointed by the NCPO will serve during a so-called five-year transitional period after the March 24 election.
During this period, the regime-appointed Senate will be allowed to join the House to vote for a prime minister from prime ministerial candidate lists submitted by parties.
Laddawan Tantivitayapitak, secretary-general of the Open Forum for Democracy Foundation (P-NET), urged parties to honour their election campaign pledges if they become part of the government.