House to debate election bills

House to debate election bills

The joint sitting of parliament during its meeting to consider constitutional amendment bills in June. (Parliament photo)
The joint sitting of parliament during its meeting to consider constitutional amendment bills in June. (Parliament photo)

Two organic bills related to elections are expected to be tabled before parliament on Feb 24-25, said government chief whip Nirote Sunthornlekha on Saturday.

Mr Nirote said he held talks with the opposition and senate whips and they initially agreed that the joint examination by MPs and senators should take place on the two dates from 9.30am to 9pm.

He said the bills -- the Political Parties Act and the Election of MPs Act -- will be examined one by one and vetting committees will be set up to work on the bills when parliament is in recess.

The amendments are intended to reflect constitutional changes in the election system. The push to restore the two-ballot electoral system was royally endorsed and published in the Royal Gazette on Nov 21.

Under the changes, the number of constituency MPs would increase from 350 to 400 while the number of list MPs would fall correspondingly from 150 to 100.

Two ballots will be used in future polls, one for choosing a constituency MP and the other for a list MP, marking a departure from the single-ballot method used in the 2019 general election.

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