How does proportional representation work?
November 7, 2007
This morning, all the major television stations have had news teams at the Thai-Japanese Youth Sports Complex in Din Daeng. They were there for the ceremonial drawing of the numbers political parties will use in the balloting for the eighty members of parliament to be elected under the proportional representation (or party list) system. Among the notable results, Puea Pandin received the coveted number one, the Democrat Party drew number four, Palang Prachachon drew 12 and Chart Thai got the "lucky number" 13.The non-stop TV coverage has certainly helped people understand the party-list system, something relatively few had a good grasp of before. I'm sure that many people had no idea that the system has been changed dramatically from the previous system in which the whole country was treated as a single unit. The story below explains the change, why the consitution drafters felt it was necessary and why many political parties are not especially happy with it.
balloting – voting ลงคะแนนเสียง
proportional representation (or party list) system – a system that gives each party in an election a number of seats in relation to the number of votes its candidates receive การเลือกตั้งระบบสัดส่วน
coveted – of something that is wanted very much ที่ต้องการยิ่ง
drew – picked (out of a container) by chance ได้โดยบังเอิญ
grasp – understanding ความเข้าใจ
dramatically – in a very great or significant way อย่างมาก อย่างยิ่ง
drafters – writers ผู้ร่าง
New party-list system defended
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA
A
charter
writer has defended the virtue
of the new proportional representation system, saying it was designed
to help the representatives work more closely with the voters. In a change from the previous two elections, the Dec 23 polls will see a new party-list format that groups the 76 provinces into eight zones, each sending 10 party-list representatives in the new House of Representatives.
Another 400 representatives will come from the 157 multi-seat constituencies across the country, bringing the total number of House members to 480.
Charter drafter Wuthisarn Tanchai said the principle behind the new system was to make the areas represented by the proportional-vote members smaller so that they can work more closely with their constituents.
Candidates for the proportional representation vote in each zone would now be forced to develop closer ties with voters in their respective areas, he said.
This was different from the party-list system under the 1997 constitution in which each party had only a single list of national party-list candidates.
Many party-list candidates in the past were also would-be cabinet members. But under the 2007 constitution, candidates on the proportional representation lists need not be party-affiliated people.
Proportional MPs would be a pool of prominent, knowledgeable and experienced people that their parties recognised as invaluable human resources.
The system does not require that they canvass for votes from constituents, said Mr Wuthisarn.
defend – to say or write something in support of someone or ปกป้อง something that has been criticised
charter – constitution รัฐธรรมนูญ
virtue – a particular good quality มีคุณธรรม มีความดีงาม
constituencies – districts that elect their own representatives to parliament เขตเลือกตั้ง
principle – a theory, law or rule that something is based on หลักการ
constituent – a person who lives and can vote in a constituency ประชาชนในเขตเลือกตั้ง
ties – connections; relationships ความเกี่ยวข้อง มีสัมพันธภาพ
respective – belonging or relating separately to each of the things or people already mentioned ดังที่กล่าวมา
would-be – wanting to be or expected to become something ว่าที่
cabinet – of the group of top government ministers who make or approve government policy คณะรัฐบาล
affiliated – closely connected to or controlled by a group or organisation เกี่ยวข้อง
pool – a group of people available for something กลุ่มคน
invaluable – extremely useful เป็นประโยชน์สูง มีค่ามาก
canvass – to ask some one to support a particular person, political party, etc. ขอคะแนนเสียง
''The public might not see any new development from the system in the first general election, but political parties will certainly improve their candidate selection in the future,'' he said.
But many political parties have complained about the new system.
Maj-Gen Sanan Kachornprasart was forced to disband his Mahachon party and take his flock to join Chart Thai because the requirement that each party have 10% of total votes in each zone will be difficult for small parties to achieve.
The old charter required only 5%.
Chart Thai deputy leader Veerasak Kowsurat has questioned the rationale behind the zonal divisions.
''On what basis has the country been divided into eight districts?'' he told a recent Thai Journalists Association forum.
The most questionable zone is the seventh, which includes 14 provinces, starting from the central province of Sing Buri stretching all the way down to Ranong in the South. Even Chart Thai leader Banharn Silpa-archa said on Monday his party was facing difficulty in finding party-list candidates.
organic law – a basic law for governing a country, in this case, a law required by the constitution. กฎหมายต้นแบบ
contest – to compete in an election การแข่งขัน
candidate – a person who is trying to get elected ผู้ลงสมัคร
disband – to stop operating as a group; to end a group สลายตัว
flock – a group of supporters กลุ่มผู้สนับสนุน
rationale – the principles or reasons which explain a particular decision, course of action, belief, etc. เหตุผลสนับสนุน
questionable – that you have doubts about because you think it is not correct, accurate or appropriate น่าสงสัย เป็นข้อกังขา