Thai NRSA proposes making elections a national agenda to prevent vote buying

[webfact]

NRSA proposes making elections a national agenda to prevent vote buying

BANGKOK, 5 April 2016 (NNT) - The National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) will make general elections part of the national agenda, in a bid to prevent vote buying and to encourage people to exercise their voting rights.

NRSA member Wanchai Sornsiri said the NRSA committee on political affairs proposed that the elections be treated as a national agenda to prevent electoral fraud and corruption.

Mr. Wanchai said in order to achieve transparent elections, the Thai people, political parties, election candidates, and the Election Commission (EC) must respect the rule of law. He added that voting hours could be extended to 6:00 pm instead of 3:00pm, to encourage higher voter turnout.

Most NRSA members who agreed with the proposal also cited the need to include additional clauses in election laws to govern how the voting process should be carried out, claiming that the enforcement of legal penalties alone will not suffice.


-- NNT 2016-04-05

[Srikcir]

the Election Commission (EC) must respect the rule of law.

DOA

[Eric Loh]

Does government formed by coercion in the barracks consider as vote buying. Should have that in the agenda.

[sanukjim]

Oh No, there goes my girl friend and her family an extra 500 baht each along with the van trip home

[phoenixdoglover]

Are the elections not already a "national agenda"? If not, what specifically does this mean?

Regarding transparency, isn't that achieved when the State is compelled to divulge what it does, and the Press is free to report it, even if it reflects poorly on officials?

As for additional laws, how about prohibiting the EC from presenting any PRO or CON positions on any referendum or candidacy. A "canned" debate, as is planned for the referendum, is no substitute for a real debate.

Finally, when is the NRSA actually going to publish something like...oh, I don't know...a set of reforms for Thailand?

[lkv]

One thing I have learnt in Thailand is when I hear preemptive statements like this one, I should

expect the exact opposite.

[heybruce]

The only promise from this unelected government about fair elections that will give me hope is that elections will be internationally monitored, as the 2011 election was. They could start with the upcoming referendum on the constitution, I and a few others have concerns about how fair it will be.