Reconciliation 'will be aided by MMA'

The proposed electoral system in which votes for losing constituency candidates would be calculated as party-list votes was designed to promote reconciliation as Parliament seats would be distributed proportionally among political parties, Constitution Drafting Commission chairman Meechai Ruchupan said yesterday.
He said the drafting panel had tried to come up with a new method that would make every party matter in every area.
In response to criticism that the mixed-member apportionment system has never been used elsewhere in the world, Meechai said: “Thais are also capable of writing their very own constitution which fits its context, and we do not necessarily need to take everything from the Western books.
“When we receive a Western education, it doesn’t mean that we do exactly as they say in the book. Rather, we should learn and apply it to our own country.”
Meechai said that instead of saying Thailand should be like other countries, people should ask themselves if other countries were like us.
“Is there anywhere in the world where an elected government would say it didn’t allocate a budget to some particular area because it didn’t win an election there?” Meechai said.
Meechai dismissed those critics who warned the new voting method would undermine big parties.
He said the drafters had no intention either to weaken or strengthen future governments or to dictate their forms.
Concerning the fear big parties might attempt to get more MPs by having nominee parties running in an election, he said it was possible to use nominees in any voting system but the CDC would try to come up with a counter-measure to prevent it.
He reiterated that every vote counted under the MMA system, which would encourage citizens to exercise their voting right.
When their favourite candidates lost an election, the votes would still matter as they would be counted in the party-list system. The list would be opened for the voters to see who benefited from their votes.
While it has not been settled whether an elected government will be weak or strong, Meechai has said he is sure about one thing – if a party gained a large number of constituency seats it could form a single-party government.
The proportion of constituency MPs would be more than the party list, he said.
The committee studying legislative structures had not revealed the exact ratio of the two systems, he said, but they had not ruled out 3:1.
In response to the belief that the system would not reflect voter intent, he explained that everyone’s vote would result in the election of an MP – either constituency or party-list. The latter was better because they had higher chance of becoming ministers.
The qualifications needed to contest an election had not been resolved, Meechai said. However, the CDC would make the qualifications clear.
For example, those involved in electoral fraud might face a life ban, he said, adding that whether or not that punishment would be retroactive had not yet been discussed.
Apichart Sukhagganond, chairman of the CDC sub-committee on the executive structure, said the MMA system would focus on the prevention of election fraud.
He said the CDC would stress fraud-prevention and suppression measures by writing the principles needed to obtain this in the charter draft and its details in the charter’s supplement laws.
He said the organic laws would cover the election system, election campaigns and measures to curb vote-buying and electoral fraud.
Prapan Naikowit, chairman of the CDC sub-committee on legislation structure, said his committee would heed public opinion on the MMA.
He said questionnaires on the new system would be drafted and would not repeat what the previous CDC had asked.
The CDC committee studying the executive branches is scheduled to present its report today.
However, one of its members, political scientist Supachai Yavaprabhasi, revealed that among the crucial points the sub-panel was still debating was how to select a prime minister. As a result, it might reschedule the meeting for next Tuesday.
Norachit Sinhaseni, a CDC spokesman, said that panel was still working on the fundamental state policy chapter including the guidelines for a government to disclose information on objectives, procedures and the budgets for any policy which might affect the national treasury.