PUBLISHED: 24 Apr 2024 at 06 :29
The cabinet on Tuesday approved the Election Commission’s (EC ) draft decree to begin the process of electing a new Senate to succeed the 250-strong military-appointed chamber whose tenure is due to expire on May 11, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said.
Under the order, programs will be accepted from May 13 with votes at area, provincial and national levels to be held on June 9, June 16 and June 26 respectively. The benefits will be announced on July 2.
According to the 2017 contract, the fresh Senate did include 200 people and will not be directly elected by the public. The candidates did ballot among themselves.
They will be selected from 20 different expert groups, with 10 chairs available for each team. There will also be a supply record of five individuals in each group.
It is estimated that about 100,000 people may have in the Senate surveys.
According to the EC, the military-appointed Senate did remain in office until the new room is officially endorsed.
Meanwhile, Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a United Thai Nation ( UTN) Party list MP, on Tuesday urged the government to keep a close watch for possible adjustment of the vote.
He cited alleged moves by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, chairman of the Progressive Movement ( PM) and former leader of the now-defunct Future Forward Party ( FFP), who has been urging his supporters to contest the Senate election.
Mr Thanakorn even accused Mr Thanathorn of distorting information about the 2017 law and the Senate’s authority to accept the members of people separate agencies, especially the Constitutional Court.
The UTN list-MP said he suspected Mr Thanathorn holds prejudices against the Constitutional Court, which dissolved the FFP and is reviewing a plea that could possibly lead to the breakdown of the Move Forward Party, the resurrection of the FFP.
Before, Senator Somchai Sawangkarn even called on the EC to take action against any attempts to manipulate the vote of new lawmakers.