'Weak, unstable' government beckons

'Weak, unstable' government beckons

CDC admits its charter draft aims to weaken big parties in the name of unity, write Nattaya Chetchotiros, Mongkol Bangprapa and Aekarach Sattaburuth

The mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system proposed under the new constitution will enfeeble large political parties and lead to weak and unstable coalition governments prone to falling at any time, the two major political parties said.

Politicians from the Pheu Thai and Democrat parties told the Bangkok Post the German-style voting system will favour smaller parties or political groups and undermine major political parties by creating conflicts within party ranks.

Note: * The total number of MPs can be increased up to 470

However, the charter drafters argue the MMP system will boost the rights and power of ordinary citizens and pave the way for political groups to become more institutionalised.

Though it admittedly encourages coalition government comprising small parties, this is designed to ease political conflict, the drafters said.

Pheu Thai Party legal adviser Chusak Sirinil said the system is designed to benefit small parties at the expense of the big parties by proposing to cut the number of constituency MPs, the bulk of the major parties' parliamentary seats, and increase the number of list MPs under a MMP model while allowing political groups to run in elections without party affiliation.

"This will enfeeble the main political parties," Mr Chusak said. 

The former Pheu Thai list MP said the charter drafters clearly favour a coalition government comprising small parties because under the MMP system, no single political party will be able to obtain an absolute majority of votes to form a government.

"Small parties and political groups will have a more significant role and gain more bargaining power in forming governments," he said.

Mr Chusak said there are also other mechanisms under the proposed charter that will also destabilise an already weak coalition government.

A proposal to allow the Senate to impeach political-office holders is a case in point, Mr Chusak said, predicting the Senate, which will be indirectly elected, would work in league with the opposition to unseat the government.

"We will have an unstable and dysfunctional government which cannot run the country properly. It may last for only six months or only one year," Mr Chusak predicted.

He said that under a MMP-style system, the two major political parties - the Pheu Thai and Democrat parties - will win fewer House seats, but small parties and political groups would win more.

Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai said the MMP system should be credited in principle for promoting small parties, although it will still have an negative impact on major ones. Major parties will diminish and will be thrown into internal chaos, Mr Phumtham said.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva also opposed the MMP voting system, saying political problems that have arisen in recent years have nothing to do with the rise or fall in the number of MPs. Reducing the number of MPs under the MMP system will not help solve any problems, he said.

Under the MMP system offering an "open list", the number of MPs is set at 450-470. Of these, 250 MPs will come from the constituency system and the rest will come from the party list system which accounts for another 200 to 220 MPs, depending on the number of votes cast on election day.

The party-list system is divided into six regions with each political party or political group being able to field between 31-35 party-list candidates per region.

Mr Abhisit said the adoption of the MMP system was ill-judged, and would throw political parties' internal management into a mess.

Parties will have trouble calculating the exact number of candidates needed beforehand and fielding them in the constituency and party list systems under MMP. This will likely cause conflicts among candidates within the party, he said.

For example, if many of a party's constituency candidates are elected, this means only a few of its party list candidates will get seats, as the party's total number of seats must be proportional to its party list vote. The more constituency MPs that a party wins in a region, the fewer the party list candidates it will have in the House.  

Mr Abhisit said the proposed "open list'' under MMP system will also pose problems in creating the lineup of party list candidates.

Internal conflict among candidates could erupt if a candidate who enjoys a higher position on the party list is not elected. This can happen when not enough voters choose those candidates on party list ballots, he said.

Mr Abhisit also spoke out against a proposal to waive a requirement that poll candidates must belong to political parties. He said the plan, which allows political groups to register and send candidates to run for elections, is unfair to parties.

While parties will be controlled by the Election Commission and various regulations, political groups would not be governed by the same rules.

However, Banthoon Setsirote, a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee, defended the adoption of MMP, arguing that coalition governments will help ease political conflict and foster unity. The new voting system will also open the way for political groups to participate more in institutionalised politics.

He said the CDC wanted to boost democracy in parties by making sure they run themselves well financially. Mr Banthoon added the "open list" will boost citizen rights as voters can re-arrange the positions of party list candidates.

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