Ballot format to be decided next week

The Election Commission (EC) is expected to decide next week on the format of the ballot paper for the upcoming general election.

Nat Laoseesawakul, the EC deputy secretary-general, will meet today with its support agencies to discuss the issue and forward the proposal to the EC for consideration.

“The EC Office needs to prepare terms of reference [ToR] to find manufacturers. By early next week it should be settled,” he said.

The format of the ballot paper has drawn a great deal of attention following a proposal that the names and logos of political parties should be removed from it.

It was reported that the idea was floated by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha during a pre-election talk last Friday between the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the EC and representatives from political parties.

However, Mr Nat said later that the idea was not suggested by the prime minister, but was proposed at a recent EC meeting.

Mr Nat said a ballot paper without the names and the logos of political parties is a solution for overseas voters in case the standard ballot paper cannot be delivered in time.

“It is information the EC Office will present to the EC for consideration. It doesn’t mean the EC has picked the format. We’re trying to cover all the possibilities. If we insist on printing the standard ballot paper only, do we have enough time to send the reserve ones if the first batch goes missing?” he said.

Mr Nat said the proposed format of the ballot paper is unlikely to be against the law and that the EC will also discuss the management of reserve ballot papers with the Foreign Ministry.

EC secretary-general Jarungvith Phumma yesterday reiterated that the EC has yet to decide on the format of the ballot papers and will listen to opinions on the issue from all involved.

He said the EC has limited time to make preparations for overseas voters if the election is to take place on Feb 24. Based on the election timeline, overseas voting is scheduled to proceed between Feb 4-16.

He called on parties not to focus on the controversy and said EC is expected to finalise the issue by Dec 19.

Meanwhile, the suggested removal of the names and the logos of political parties continues to draw protests from parties and academics.

Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, an academic at Thammasat University, said the names of political parties must be present on the ballot paper because the election is not just about picking candidates but also determining policies.

He said that the 2017 charter also requires MP candidates to contest under the banner of political parties, so it is therefore a must that the names of their parties be included.

According to Mr Prinya, by removing the names of political parties the EC will be undermining the constitution’s principles, which encourage voters to cast their ballots based on policy platforms.

“Removing logos from the ballot paper is possible. But the names must be there,” he said.

Wutthisarn Tanchai, secretary-general of the King Prajadhipok’s Institute, called on the EC to intensify its efforts to educate the public about the single ballot papers yesterday.

Mr Witthisarn said a large number of voters, based on the results of an opinion survey, are unaware that a single ballot will be used for both the constituency and the party-list system.

On the proposed removal of logos, he said he believes parties would have to communicate with voters to reduce misunderstanding.

Under the law on the election of MPs which takes effect today, the old system in which candidates and the parties they stand for shared the same ballot number has been scrapped. Numbers will now be assigned on a first come, first served basis during candidate applications.

If Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his four surrogate politicians in the cabinet refuse to do the right thing and step down before the election, they must at least stop their stream of orders on how to run the voting process. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the cabinet, both under the direction of Gen Prayut, seem to have got used to usurping powers specifically given by the constitution to the Election Commission (EC). From setting the specific election date to designing ballots, the regime is technically poking into matters where it has no authority. The result is an inevitable loss of trust that the election will actually be free or fair.

The regime’s intrusion into the election process is ironic. The EC’s powers are enumerated in the constitution written specifically to junta specifications.

Last weekend it emerged that the National Council for Peace and Order — specifically NCPO chief Gen Prayut — had ordered the EC to adopt a radical change in ballot design. All party names, numbers and symbols are eliminated. Only candidate names and their assigned numbers, constituency by constituency, appear on this design. The advantage to the regime-friendly Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) was obvious to all.

Here is the EC’s denial that the regime interfered with election procedures, from deputy EC secretary-general Natt Laosisavasakul. “This format was proposed because the EC feared transport problems”. The careful phrasing literally means that no person proposed this ballot format, it just appeared. But it didn’t come from nowhere, and all reports currently agree that the PM’s Office or the prime minister himself was the author.

Prior to that, the prime minister and two of his deputies have dictated the date of the election — an enumerated duty of the EC. Arguably the most blatant misuse of powers came last Friday. The NCPO under Gen Prayut summoned political parties and the EC to the Army Club to get election marching orders.

It is a shame that the EC has not made any effort to stop the interference. Even the appearance of a huge roadside billboard touting Gen Prayut for post-election prime minister drew no comment from the commission.

The same piracy of powers has occurred in the government’s treatment of another important and constitutionally independent body, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

Until now, the regime’s obvious interference with the NACC has been cloaked in obscurity and deniability. Last week, Gen Prayut and the cabinet’s own legal authority, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, blatantly intimidated the NACC over an important new tool in the anti-graft fight.

Like the EC members, the junta-appointed top officials of the NACC backed down. The NACC had already formalised rules for hundreds of new senior bureaucrats and agency directors to fill out assets declarations. Gen Prayut and Mr Wissanu ordered the regulations redone, even after they were published in the Royal Gazette. The NACC rushed to obey the military-backed orders, and lost almost all leverage to investigate high-level corruption.

These actions make a mockery of the duties of a government and its agencies to be accountable. Rather they indicate a very troubling tendency — a government very comfortable with dictating laws and regulations from on high.

Gen Prayut not only has failed to soften the military habit and tradition of top-down, arbitrary orders, but has increased the drift.

PPRP leader Uttama Savanayana and three other ministers and government officials have refused to step aside for the election. This breaks tradition of the parliamentary system, in Thailand and around the world. In the pre-election period, governments are supposed to be caretakers, but Gen Prayut continues to commit billions of baht in new programmes.

The government and junta should take immediate steps to halt and reverse the loss of confidence they are bringing to electoral honesty.