Minnows seek ruling upon list MP formulation
Small parties will request the Constitutional Courtroom to rule when the use of the number 100 to calculate party-list seats is contrary to the constitution, after the amended version of an election bill supporting the use of 500 as divisor failed to clear parliament yesterday.
MPs and senators were supposed to finish deliberating the organic bill on the political election of MPs the other day, as the matter needed to be decided in 180 days.
According to Section 132 of the constitution, if the deadline passes with no parliament’s endorsement in the third and last reading, the original write will be adopted.
The original edition, sponsored by the cabinet and drafted by Election Commission (EC), proposed the use of a hundred in the calculation.
A joint sitting last Thurs — which was supposed to be the last on the bill — collapsed due to a lack of quorum, about what was believed to be the deliberate move to derail the bill’s passing after the number five hundred was adopted to calculate party-list seats in the second reading last month.
The collapse of the session received widespread criticism associated with MPs and senators, prompting Parliament Chief executive Chuan Leekpai to order a special conference for yesterday to give lawmakers one final chance to review the particular bill.
However , as broadly speculated, yesterday’s meeting was cancelled about half an hour into the program, once again due to the lack of quorum.
Ravee Maschamadol, innovator of the small New Palang Dharma Party (NPDP), said recently small parties can petition the Constitutional Court on Fri.
If the court agrees to hear the petition and rules that the use of 100 in the computation is legitimate, the controversy will be offer rest, he stated.
In the next election, the total quantity of votes each celebration gets will be divided by the number one hundred or 500 to look for the number of party list seats each will get.
The particular figure, 100, derives from the total number of party-list MPs while 500 includes all the constituency MPs as well.
Little parties prefer the use of 500 as it would be easier for them to win a list seat utilizing a larger number because divisor.
Dr Ravee said it was hard to think the meeting flattened again because the key government whip experienced given his assurances that the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Prawit Wongsuwon, had told the party’s MPs to go to the meeting.
However , only a handful of PPRP MPs turned up for it, he or she said.
Only nine MPs from the PPRP plus 10 MPs through the main opposition Pheu Thai Party had been present at the conference. Also absent were 99 senators.
Yesterday’s shared meeting got off to a troubling start.
The particular session had to be delayed for over an hour till the meeting quorum was met, with 165 senators and two hundred MPs present. Nevertheless a vote over the organic bill has been called about half an hour later, only 353 were present, bringing the session to an sharp end.
Mr Chuan told the chamber that because parliament has been unable to meet the deadline day, the original version of the bill will be used.
Mouthpiece Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is the particular government’s legal specialist, said the original edition will be submitted to the EC for further evaluation before it is forwarded for royal endorsement.
Nevertheless , the poll company won’t need to spend much time vetting the expenses because it had prepared the draft, he or she said.
That said, if the court finds parts of the particular bill to be out of constitute, then the EC will certainly prepare a new set up, he said.
Gen Prawit, who was in Saraburi on a trip yesterday, distanced himself from the quorum drama. “No, We didn’t know. The meeting collapsed? Already? ” he stated.
Sathit Pitutecha, chair of the House panel scrutinising the particular organic bill, said the switch to the usage of 500 as the divisor was to blame for the meeting’s collapse.
Mr Sathit called it the tactic to booth the third and last reading of the costs until the 180-day deadline day expired so that the initial draft would be instantly reinstated.
Asked about the prepared petition by small parties, Pheu Thailänder leader Cholnan Srikaew said he considered the risk of the courtroom ruling against the usage of 100 as the divisor was low.