2007 Constitution
Flaws with respect to constitutional organizations were uncovered in the implementation of the 1997 Constitution. The 2007 Constitution redressed the imbalance in such a way that the checks and balances stand a better chance of working under the new Constitution. The 2007 constitutionis was explicitly crafted to reduce the capacities of political parties and elected politicians to challenge Thailand’s conservative forces. The goal was to return Thailand to the pre-1997 system of a multitude of weak, narrowly focused parties and large, unstable governments.
Under the 2007 constitution, the National Assembly consists of two chambers -- the Senate and the House of Representatives. The method for making senators free from political party influence is to structure a ‘two-category’ Senate consisting of 76 elected senators (one for each province) in one category and 74 selected senators in the other, totaling 150 senators. The Senate is a non-partisan body with 150 members, with 74 are appointed by a panel comprised of judges and senior independent officials from a list of candidates compiled by the Election Commission. The objective being to exert damage control by constraining political interference to the severest possible degree, through raising the credentials of senators and appointing a neutral selection committee. The selected senators are set to come from expert and experienced persons in every field of endeavor and occupations. Under the 1997 constituion all had been elected, and prior to that all were appointed.
The House has 500 members, 375 of whom are directly elected from constituent districts [versus 400 under the 1997 Constitution] and the remainder drawn proportionally from party lists. The election system was reorganized to result in bigger constituencies to enable good citizens to compete with moneyed men on an equal footing. Under the 2007 Constitution, constituencies are larger, and there will be three MPs from a typical constituency. This change, which marked a return to pre-1997 practices, was intended to hinder vote-buying, and to reduce the advantages of large political parties. The restrictions on party switching have been effectively eliminated.
The party-list system was transfigured to a proportional election system, consisting of 8 provincial zones, to de-massify representatives focused at the central region only. Under the 1997 constitution, the 100 party list MPs were elected off of a national party list. Now, the 80 party list MPs will be elected from eight separate regional party lists. This change was intended to ensure that party list MPs represent a more diverse group with stronger ties to voters in different regions. The 5% proportion is abolished to allow smaller parties to gain a foothold in the National Assembly. Furthermore, representatives are freed from party control in posing questions, launching a debate, and casting a no-confidence vote in the House, as well as proposing legislation without having to seek their own party approval first.
The Prime Minister is selected by a majority vote in the House in favor of a resolution designating that person as Prime Minister. No less than one-fifth of the current members of the House (96 members, when the House is at full strength) must endorse such a resolution in order for it to proceed to a vote. The Constitution specifies that such votes are open, and that political parties cannot require their members to vote according to party lines. The Constitution directs that, if no person receives majority support for his candidacy as Prime Minister, the President of the House is to submit to the King the name of the person who received the most votes after being put forward for House consideration.
The two amendments to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, earlier adopted by the Thai Parliament, entered into force on 05 March 2011. These two amendments were approved by the Joint Sitting of the House of Representatives and the Senate on 11 February 2011. They were based on two of the recommendations submitted to the Cabinet by the Constitutional Reform Committee, set up as part of the Government's reconciliation plan. The first amendment - aimed at improving the election rules on the basis of fairness, enhancing the efficiency of the administration of the state - changed the country's electoral system for members of the House of Representatives both in terms of constituency-based MPs and party-list MPs. It affects Sections 93-98, 101 and 109 of the Constitution.
Essentially, the multi-seat constituency system used during the previous general election was changed to a single-seat for the party-list system, instead of submitting one list of candidates for each of the electoral districts it plans to run (multiple lists), each contesting political party is to present its candidates in one single nationwide party list. The amendment also adjusted the seat apportionment formula from 400 constituency-based MPs and 80 party-list MPs to 375 constituency-based MPs and 125 party-list MPs. The total number of members of the House was also increased from 480 to 500. The second amendment concerns the issue of parliamentary approval for treaties and international agreements (Section 190).
By the time the 03 July 2011 election rolled around, Thai voters were once again faced with essentially the same method of voting as was the case under the 1997 Constitution. As with the 2007 Constitution, voters voted for two types of candidates to be Members of Parliament (MPs). One is the voting on a party-list basis, or under the proportional representation system, and the other is the voting on a single-member constituency basis.
This form of electoral system was introduced for the first time in the 2001 general election. It divides members of the House of Representatives into two groups. One group comes from a party list, while the other comes from single-seat constituencies. Voters will be given two ballots in different colors to elect a political party on a party-list basis and a candidate on a constituency basis.
The House of Representatives in Thailand now consists of 500 MPs. Among them, 125 MPs are elected on a party-list basis, while the remaining 375 are elected directly by voters on a single-member constituency basis. Ideally, party-list MPs are to become ministers, while constituency-based MPs are supposed to concentrate on legislative matters.
As for party-list MPs, each political party prepares a list of candidates comprising not more than 125 persons. The list is to be submitted to the Election Commission of Thailand on the date of the registration of candidacy. The names on the party list must not be repeated on a party list of candidates of other parties, or the list of constituency candidates. Any party winning less than five percent of the total number of votes cast will automatically lose its right to nominate its party list. The total number of party-list votes will be used to calculate the number of party-list MPs based on the percentage of votes each party receives.
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