Primaries pose poll conundrum

Govt looks at legal way to dodge impasse

The government is considering legal channels to address a possible impasse likely to be caused by the primary vote system, a new element introduced in the organic law on political parties.

The primary vote system was among several issues discussed at yesterday’s meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), and the Election Commission (EC) to thrash out issues relating to poll preparations, Mr Wissanu said after the meeting.

Under the organic law on political parties, which took effect on Oct 8 last year, parties must organise primaries where members choose the candidates they want to stand in both constituency and partylist elections.

Critics are concerned primaries are a time-consuming process that will prove costly to parties and leave them little time to prepare for the next election. Also, they would put small parties at a disadvantage due to their limited resources for establishing branches and bringing in members.

Mr Wissanu said he will inform four key issues raised at the meeting to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

They include allowing parties to hold meetings, setting up party branches — a prerequisite for holding primaries, the demarcation of constituencies and the management of poll scheduling.

Addressing the primaries, Mr Wissanu said the NCPO will be informed of any problems that will likely be caused by them and solutions must be found to fix them.

“Most [politicians] said they did not want to hold primaries due to three factors tied to the system — the demarcation of constituencies, allowing them to hold meetings and recruiting members. If these issues remain unsolved, they thought the primaries should be suspended. But if they are solved, they may want the primaries to take place,” Mr Wissanu said.

Mr Wissanu said that if there are any legal hurdles to demarcating constituencies, the NCPO and the cabinet will discuss the best legal channel — a bill passed by the National Legislative Assembly or an executive decree issued by the cabinet or the invocation of Section 44.

A source in the EC previously said the primaries are tied to the demarcation of constituencies. However, demarcation cannot go ahead until the organic bill on the election of MPs takes effect.

Since the organic bill will not go into effect until 90 days after it is endorsed by the King and published in the Royal Gazette, parties were concerned they will not have time to arrange the primaries.

The source said the constituencies need to be re-drawn under the new organic law to determine how many parliamentary seats will be up for grabs in each province.

The number of seats available in the constituencies in each province will give parties a clear idea as to how many primaries they will need to hold.

But constituency designation is to be put on hold due to the 90-day wait, which will in turn delay the primaries.

Political parties also asked the NCPO to lift the ban on their activities so they could recruit new members to vote in the primaries. Many predicted they will be short of registered members to vote in them if they cannot recruit new members.

In the primaries, registered party members will choose potential candidates, one of whom will be chosen by the party executive board to stand in the election.

Under the organic law, parties which want to field candidates in the constituency system must set up branches or appoint representatives in those constituencies.

Each branch must have at least 500 members in its jurisdiction while representatives are appointed in constituencies where there are no provincial branches of parties and where there are more than 100 party members.

To select constituency candidates, parties will set up selection committees to recruit candidates.

These committees will vet applicants and forward their names to party branches or representatives for a vote.

The two candidates who get the highest number of votes will then be presented to party executives for endorsement.

Party executives have the right to choose the person who comes second if they so wish, though they must justify the decision.

As for the nomination of candidates under the party-list system, the selection panel draws up a list of up to 50 names before branch heads and representatives hold meetings for party members to vote. Each party member can vote for up to 15 candidates.

Representatives from three political parties have put forward their plan to amend the current junta-sponsored 2017 constitution after the general election is held. However, the charter is written in such a way that change is almost impossible by following the normal process.

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and Chaturon Chaisang, a senior member of the Pheu Thai Party, yesterday agreed at a forum that changing the whole charter is a top priority for their parties after the poll.

“The whole 2017 constitution should be scrapped as it is undemocratic and passed by a referendum that lacked transparency. Moreover, the charter also forces future governments to stick with the junta’s 20-year national development blueprint,” Mr Thanathorn said.

Mr Chaturon said the national strategy will impose additional burdens on future governments as they will be required to comply with the new law.

“If politicians in the future governments do not follow the junta’s 20-year national strategy, they could be sacked from their positions or even end up in jail, which is unfair,” he said.

“To amend the charter, approval from at least three quarters of members of parliament, one-third of senators, and 10% of MPs from opposition parties is required. In addition, a minimum of four referendums will be required during the amendment process,” Mr Chaturon said.

Mr Thanathorn said the only way to successfully amend the charter is to raise awareness and gain people’s acceptance to change it. Mr Chaturon urged all prodemocracy parties to join in this task.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva agreed that the junta-sponsored 2017 constitution should be amended, however, it should not be the top priority of the new government because the amendment would take a long time. He believes the elected government should focus its efforts on other problems first.

“I believe the committee which oversees the 20-year national development plan will understand if the new government decides to do something that better fits with the context of society at the time even if it may be against the original blueprint. Context changes all the time and priorities can shift in five years from what they are today,” he said.

Mr Abhisit also urged the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to revoke its orders that obstruct the activities of political parties and ensure a free and fair election as soon as possible. The Constitutional Court has already cleared the last possible legal controversy that could push back a general election tentatively scheduled for February.

“[NCPO chief ] Gen Prayut [Chan-ocha] should make it clear about their role in the upcoming election and whether they want to be one of the players or simply just referees. If he wants to be a player, that’s fine for me, but he must compete with politicians fairly from the start,” Mr Abhisit said.

Representatives from the Pheu Thai, Future Forward and Democrat parties hold the same position on amending the charter.

Meanwhile, pro-junta figure Paiboon Nititawan, said he has no problem with the current constitution.