Politicians fear new electoral system would stall the country's development

BANGKOK, 24 April 2015 (NNT) - The former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives has expressed his concern that the proposed mixed member proportional (MMP) electoral system of the House of Representatives would weaken political parties and stall the country’s development.

Former Deputy House Speaker Samat Kaewmeechai of the Pheu Thai Party said that successful policymaking requires political parties to be strong enough to successfully push legislation. According to Mr. Samat, a Parliament filled with multiple small parties would create an inefficient legislative process. He feared that a weaker Parliament would lead to political impasse.

His concerns were echoed by Deputy Democrat Party leader Jurin Laksanavisit, who said that weaker political parties would mean difficulty in achieving national progress. Mr. Jurin added that the proposed open-list system on the party list ballot would spark partisan infighting.

However, Mr. Jurin agreed with the provision to allow a non-Member of Parliament to assume the premiership in times of crisis, provided that the charter drafters carefully consider the implications of Sections 181 and 182.

Section 181 would grants the government the right to obtain a confidence motion from Parliament. Section 182 would grant the government the right to propose emergency legislation that would pass automatically if not vetoed by Parliament within 48 hours.


-- NNT 2015-04-24

Thai politicians are the ones who have stalled this country's development. They should all be rounded up and shipped out onto the Thai fishing vessels...

Thai politicians are the ones who have stalled this country's development. They should all be rounded up and shipped out onto the Thai fishing vessels...

Absolutely right and he is not worried so much about the country's development but more for the development and fattening of his own pockets.

The whole point of this charter is to stall the country - worse, the intent is to reverse it to the 1970s and to ensure the wealth and the control does not leave the centre.

Unless you were asleep in the last decade you'd note that this country has moved ahead dramatically. Do you recall Don Muang as the international airport? How about BKK before Skytrains and MRT? How about the 250% increase in average incomes in the north? It was being hailed as one of the miracle countries of Asia until just a couple of years back.

Major problems for sure, and deep corruption all round, but you need to have blinkers screwed so tightly that it hurts to claim that the past decade was not one of substantial progress in Thailand - until it was turned to crap to advance the desires of a powerful self-entitled minority.

I call it Thailand's Lost Decade and the politicians are much to blame. 10 years of lost progress. They should be ashamed but they are not and therein lies the problem.

The whole point of this charter is to stall the country - worse, the intent is to reverse it to the 1970s and to ensure the wealth and the control does not leave the centre.

Unless you were asleep in the last decade you'd note that this country has moved ahead dramatically. Do you recall Don Muang as the international airport? How about BKK before Skytrains and MRT? How about the 250% increase in average incomes in the north? It was being hailed as one of the miracle countries of Asia until just a couple of years back.

Major problems for sure, and deep corruption all round, but you need to have blinkers screwed so tightly that it hurts to claim that the past decade was not one of substantial progress in Thailand - until it was turned to crap to advance the desires of a powerful self-entitled minority.

A powerful self-entitled minority - thought they'd got rid of the Shins?

250% increase in average incomes on the North over 10 years v. 450% increase in Shin clan wealth over 3 years. Seems to confirm your comments.

A stalled development would be actually positive, at least they would have stopped the regression...

If they are truly fear that there will be too many parties that only get a few % of the votes in the parliament causing a stall of decisions, then implement a minimum percentage rule. How about 5%?

Well IMO this is not the issue, it smells like another excuse to defer elections or change the system to their likings? Or is it only me?

"Section 182 would grant the government the right to propose emergency legislation that would pass automatically if not vetoed by Parliament within 48 hours."

Raise your hand if you think this is a good idea.

"and stall the country’s development."

can the learned parliamentary godfathers please define the word "development"?

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The whole point of this charter is to stall the country - worse, the intent is to reverse it to the 1970s and to ensure the wealth and the control does not leave the centre.

Unless you were asleep in the last decade you'd note that this country has moved ahead dramatically. Do you recall Don Muang as the international airport? How about BKK before Skytrains and MRT? How about the 250% increase in average incomes in the north? It was being hailed as one of the miracle countries of Asia until just a couple of years back.

Major problems for sure, and deep corruption all round, but you need to have blinkers screwed so tightly that it hurts to claim that the past decade was not one of substantial progress in Thailand - until it was turned to crap to advance the desires of a powerful self-entitled minority.

Nice attempt to twist.

In reality the last government was not even connected to development of anything other than items which lined the pockets of the members of the paymasters get real rich real quick club, just say yes to everything and don't comment on anything.

Right now there is serious work being done (and yes it needs more discussion and adjustments) to get Thailand into a state of democracy. The last mob didn't do that al all, in fact they made quite some progress at setting up a dictatorship.

If the new charter sets up a scenario where small parties can get into the picture then what's possible is more serious challenge to those who want a clear run to the trough with nobody in a position to seriously challenge.

Sounds good.

"...successful policymaking requires political parties to be strong enough to successfully push legislation."

What kind of warped view of democracy does this idiot have ?.

Legislation is not about one crowd being powerful enough to force it through no matter what. If the law is so important the interest of the Nation, there should be no problem getting a majority.

Have they learned nothing at all ?. Thai political parties simply cannot be trusted to be able to force laws.

I have never know any country so unable to admit mistakes and learn from them. That's why there is a coup every 10 years and why Thailand has contributed nothing to the rest of the world except rice and tourism.

I believe he is correct . Progressive democracies are the most advanced countries in the world. I know the Western democracies are not perfect but at the end of the day the Politicians live or die by the electorate and thats how it should be. Obviously Democracy has evolved over centuries by opening the doors to all, not just a rich minority , as it was at first in all countries that are "Fully" democratic now. Where should Thailand start ?

its true that it will weaken the main parties so its natural they will be against it, but in practice it works pretty well and its more representative of the people, its a good idea I think

They thought they had the strength to push through legislation last time but found out to their loss that the people, including their own red supporters, were against the 'legislation by force' tactic and it was them in the end who succumbed to the force of the people.

What political developmen?

The past few decades were all about money politics being developed and refined into an art where fugitives from the Law tried to gain amnesty and relations and friends placed into positions of power.

Until politicians develop a sense of shame, any limits on possible abuse of power by them is a positive development.

Small parties have nearly always been a part of the government. The first genuine single party government Thailand has known in modern times was formed by Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai after the 2005 election. So what's the big deal? Small parties generally are run by strong individuals, so the worst case scenario I can imagine is a host of party nonentities run by chinless wonders.

I call it Thailand's Lost Decade and the politicians are much to blame. 10 years of lost progress. They should be ashamed but they are not and therein lies the problem.

No system is perfect and where there's flaws and loopholes politicians are the first to exploit them. If there's none politicians manufacture them and not for the benefit of the nation and its people,

It's so easy to blame the system not themselves as taking responsibility for anything is all but unthinkable.

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

Any discussion/debate on how the new constitution will address (prevent) the causes of the problems in 2014?