Thailand’s complex Senate election in jeopardy as court ruling looms | Politics News

Bangkok, Thailand – (EN) Thailand’s almost month-long Senate selection process began last week, amid accusations that the system is skewed in favor of the conservative establishment, and as legal threats against the opposition run the gamut. risk of derailing attempts to take steps towards democracy.

After seizing power in a coup in 2014, the Thai military directly appointed 250 people to the upper house, in a move seen as an attempt to prevent meaningful political reforms as the country returned to a failed democracy. After last year’s elections, senators prevented the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) from forming a government, despite winning the most seats in parliament and the largest share of the vote.

However, the Senate’s role in choosing the prime minister was temporary, as was his direct appointment by the military. This month, a new batch of 200 senators is being selected from among leaders of major industries in a complicated, weeks-long process in which only registered candidates can vote.

Applicants must be over 40 years old, have 10 years of experience in the field, not be current members of a political party and pay an application fee of 2,500 baht ($68). Ten candidates will be selected from 20 occupational groups, including government, law, education, arts and culture, and women’s affairs. The final round of voting is scheduled for June 26th, with results announced on July 2nd.

“The new group of senators will have two main roles,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor and senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

“The constitutional change requires a third of the 200 new senators. Equally important, the new senators will oversee the appointments of the Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court.”

The current constitution was promulgated under military rule in 2017, and calls for it to be amended or scrapped have increased in recent years. However, decisions by the Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court led to the dissolution and banning of pro-democracy candidates and political parties.

More recently, they have turned their attention to MFP. The Electoral Commission recommended that the Constitutional Court dissolve the progressive party based on its calls for reform of the controversial lese majeste law, which criminalizes criticism of the monarchy. The Constitutional Court is still deliberating and could announce its decision on Tuesday. It previously ruled in January that attempts to reform the MFP amounted to an attempt to overthrow the monarchy.

Thitinan said that given the continued importance of the Senate, it was “being fiercely contested.”

“There will likely be moves by the conservative establishment, including the Electoral Commission, to ensure that the Senate does not have enough progressive voices to change the Constitution,” he said.

Even the constitutionality of the Senate’s choice has been challenged, with the Constitutional Court expected to issue a verdict on its legality on Tuesday morning.

Ruchapong Chamjirachaikul, a member of the legal advocacy group iLaw, said the process was “neither fair nor democratic” and that it was intentional.

“The problems you see in the process are a feature, not a bug… many of them are intentional,” he said, adding that the process should not be called “election” but “selection.”

Chamjirachaikul said his team has already received some reports of irregularities, such as the registration of former generals to represent the agricultural sector, or the offer of 10,000 baht ($270) to people to register and vote for a specific candidate.

‘Contaminated’

In June, a 26-year-old assistant to progressive candidate Nongyao Nawarat, a retired sociology professor at Chiang Mai University, said the “unfair selection system” was designed to prevent young people from participating.

She said the approach shows that the establishment is afraid of younger voters and their demands for reform, and will do whatever is necessary to block real change. Before the elections, progressive activists and candidates activated their grassroots networks, encouraging as many people sympathetic to the movement as possible to register as candidates.

“Of course, conservatives do similar things,” June said. “And they still [have] the advantage of spending more money. But I still believe in the power of the people who are on our side.”

Because of the way the process is structured, it is impossible to counter the conservative organization without encouraging contacts to register with the intention of voting for someone else. But Chamjirachaikul said the progressive strategy should be “open and transparent”.

“We have a public event and we ask that any candidate who attends this event, the press can be present and will present themselves openly,” he said. “You have to say what you stand for – new constitution, lese majeste amendment, democratic principles, are you against another coup?”

Chamjirachaikul stressed that candidates need to register, even if they do not expect or even want to win a seat, in order to vote.

“We don’t pay anyone, nor do we have money to pay anyone. But if you are over 40, have money, have time and want to contribute to democracy, you can register and vote for someone who shares the same vision of democracy for Thailand as you do,” he said.

He said that the eventual Senate will lack representation and accountability, which will further tarnish the body’s reputation, already “tarnished” by years of acting as a proxy for the military.

“When there is no clear representation, there is no clear accountability, unlike deputies who would have to be confronted by their own constituencies, but who are the constituencies of these new senators? There is no one,” said Chamjirachaikul.

However, even with the selection issues, Thitinan said the next Senate “would still be more representative of the Thai people compared to the expired 250-member Senate that was chosen by the military.”

This is in line with other modest reforms since last year’s elections, which saw the moderate pro-democracy Pheu Thai party form a coalition government with conservative and military-backed parties.

But Chamjirachaikul said it was worth asking why Thailand needed a Senate. “We as Thais should be able to debate and discuss this openly,” he said. “We’ve seen enough from the Senate.”

June said that regardless of what the system did to stem the tide, young activists would continue to fight for change.

“We are the new generation. We will do whatever it takes to change this country for the better. It may not happen in a single session or in a single night. But this will gradually change.”