Lawmakers opt for smaller constituencies

Lawmakers yesterday rejected a proposal to designate each of the kingdom’s provinces as a constituency in the election process for the 200member charter drafting assembly (CDA).

The vote was conducted following a debate on a proposal put forward by a parliamentary committee scrutinising charter amendments.

Under this model, the number of voters in the provinces would determine the number of CDA members they get. Bangkok would have as many as 17 CDA members.

However, after the debate, 379 MPs and senators rejected the proposal, while 237 voted in favour and 20 abstained.

Another vote was taken after and a total of 395 lawmakers voted for the use of smaller constituencies for the election of CDA members, against 18 with 232 abstentions.

It was part of the two-day second reading of two charter amendment bills — one proposed by the government and another by the opposition — adopted during the first reading on Nov 18.

During the debate, Thiratchai Phatumas, a list-MP for the Move Forward Party (MFP) and a committee member, argued that having larger constituencies would encourage wider public participation in the charter rewrite process.

Chonlanan Srikaew, Pheu Thai MP for Nan, agreed, saying Mr Thiratchai’s system would ensure wider public participation in the selection process.

However, several MFP MPs, including Rangsiman Rome, suggested that the whole country should serve as one single constituency for the CDA election.

Several government MPs suggested that smaller constituencies should be drawn up for the election of the 200 CDA members.

“Smaller constituencies will allow CDA members and voters to communicate better,” said Wichian Chaowalit, a list-MP from the Palang Pracharath Party.