'Proposed system would punish parties and not serve the public'

Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, associate professor of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University, posted on Facebook that although the proposed election system is simple because voters just cast one ballot for a constituency MP candidate, the CDC should realise voters are familiar with voting for both an MP and a party. They said the simplicity of the process may not reflect voters’ intent and wishes.

The principle of making every vote cast count is regarded as a strength of this system, but this principle is not the most important principle. Siripan has said the second principle should not overshadow the more important goal of reflecting voters’ intent and wishes.

The charter writers said this principle suited Thai society and did not violate international principles. But critics have said that the 1997 and 2007 charters were also in line with society – but the new election system is not used internationally and the charter writers admit that they have devised it.

Siripan says other countries have not used this system because it would punish parties whose MPs win, as the MPs win seats but the party would not get party-list votes. If a party wanted to secure party-list votes, its MP candidate could not capture the most votes. Voter intent was, thus, distorted because if they voted for an MP candidate, they voted against his or her party.

The academic also says the new election system disregards the complex relationship between constituency MPs and party-list MPs in terms of them being representatives of the people. Thais have developed strategies to increase their bargaining power differently with constituency MPs and party-list MPs over the past 14 years. The methodology of voting for an MP and a party should not be intertwined.

Siripan believes the new system would weaken political parties, as it supports individuals more than parties. They said parties would have no motivation to win votes through projecting good policies but via individuals. Vote-buying could be more rampant, as it would be easier to buy votes through individuals.

Siripan says the new election system would not promote fair competition among political parties. Small parties which could not field constituency MP candidates would not be able to compete with large parties. Foreign countries solved this problem by opting for the party-list system.

The new election system would lead to inefficient coalition governments but this scenario does not necessary mean a non-elected PM would lead the government, as that would depend on the new charter’s criteria on a non-elected PM.

Siripan says the proposed system would drastically change the face of Thai politics. Pheu Thai and the Democrat parties would lose out in an election, as they were major winners under the party-list system. 

Medium-sized parties such as the Bhum Jai Thai, Chat Pattana, Puea Pandin and Chat Thai Pattana would benefit from the new system. Small parties and parties that could not compete in the constituency system such as Rak Thailand would also stand to lose.

So the new system did not reflect voter intent and did not promote fair competition.

The charter writers have been urged to accept the desire of voters as shown via past election results and find and fix flaws in the election system instead of totally changing it. 

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said he supported the idea of making every vote cast not being wasted, as they would be calculated as party-list votes. However, he said the method to calculate the party-list votes must be reviewed. 

He said the new system would not reflect voter intent if they were only allowed to cast one vote. He said he would raise his concerns in his electoral system proposals and forward it to the CDC on Wednesday.

“There is a way to make it clear about voters’ intentions when voting for a party and for an individual. We must have them cast their vote on two ballot papers,’’ he said.

Abhisit said that if the new election system were implemented, the CDC would be attacked for failing to reflect people’s desires because parties with successful MP candidates would see their party-list votes slashed.

Academic Surapong Sothanasatien dismissed claims that the new election system would prevent vote-buying. He said electoral fraud took place directly and indirectly before and after ballots and the new system could not solve the problem. 

He said the new system would not change voter behaviour and would not promote a greater number of voters.