Elected speaker seen best for Senate, survey finds
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The Senate should choose its speaker from senators who are elected rather those appointed to their seats, according to the results of a Suan Dusit Poll opinion survey conducted in Bangkok and released yesterday.
The survey, based on 1,103 respondents, said the desired qualifications for the speaker were impartiality, a clean background and decisiveness.
The Senate is expected this week to elect a successor to Teeradej Meepien, who was disqualified last month after his conviction for granting a pay raise to himself while he was the ombudsman in 2004.
A leading candidate for the job, Nikom Wairatpanij (elected from Chachoengsao), has confirmed he will not step down from his position of deputy speaker ahead of the vote to install the new speaker.
Sources in the upper chamber said Nikom refused to step down because his exit might pave the way for appointed senators to win both positions of speaker and deputy speaker as the elected senators appeared to be in disarray.
While the appointed senators have nominated their sole candidate, Pichet Soontornpipit, as the speaker, elected senator Kecha Saksomboon from Ratchaburi will contest Nikom’s bid for the job.
