Electoral System of the House of Representatives Appropriate for Thailand

Abstract

This article aimed to study concepts of the principle of democracy and electoral systems, developments of electoral systems in Thailand and foreign countries and problems of electoral systems in Thailand, on one hand, and to suggest electoral systems appropriate for and consistent with the state of Thai society, on the other. The results of the study showed that Thailand’s electoral systems – both Simple Majority Electoral System and Parallel Electoral System – led to the election results that were not able to actually reflect the will of the sovereign people. These electoral systems were also those that tended to make major parties gain an advantage and make medium and minor parties have a disadvantage. Moreover, the systems did not give opportunity for newly established parties to be capable of political self-development. Consequently, the two electoral systems were incompatible with the objective of the election that requires people to be those who determine the future of the nation by means of electing their own representatives through the election.

As mentioned above, MMP Electoral System, which is used in Germany and New Zealand, differs from Parallel Electoral System. Although MMP System and Parallel System have similar principles, the former differs from the latter in how to calculate votes. MMP calculates votes to allocate seats by connecting Constituency System with Party-list System. MMP also has compensatory seats for candidates from Party-list System in order that political parties actually gain seats in accordance with the quota received. Consequently, the election results can actually reflect the will of the people. Voter’s votes are proportionate with the seat number each party actually receives. This results in fairness to every political party – major parties, medium parties, minor parties or even newly established parties. Therefore, MMP Electoral System contributes to the diversity of political party systems. Subsequently, political party systems will develop into institutes with ideology that are people-based, and the parliament can perform their duty effectively and acts as a mirror that reflects problems and needs of the sovereign people

  In this study, the author thinks that MMP Electoral System should be adapted for use in Thailand by combining Simple Majority Electoral System based on a single-member constituency with Party-list Proportional Representation Electoral System. The country will be clearly divided into constituencies based on administrative districts. Each constituency does not need to have the equal number of population, but it must offer the equality to be representation based on population proportion. The ratio of the constituency representatives to party-list representatives should be proportionately or equally determined in terms of the number. State should not only undergo preparation in various aspects such as law, body of knowledge, election management and responsible staff but also establish democratic consciousness for all the people.