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Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
Politics
MONGKOL BANGPRAPA AND AEKARACH SATTABURUTH

27 parties likely to benefit from EC list-totting method

Election authorities organise an election rerun in Bang Kapi district, Bangkok, on April 21. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)

A total of 27 parties should receive at least one party-list MP based on the Election Commission's (EC) calculation method, according to a source at the poll agency.

The formula adheres to the calculation method initiated by the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), the source said.

It appears to favour small parties garnering fewer votes than the number required to get a seat under the complicated mixed-member apportionment (MMP) system, according to political observers.

The source said on Wednesday that an EC meeting on Tuesday resolved to endorse and announce constituency MPs next Tuesday and the party-list MPs the following day.

Meanwhile, the EC has disqualified five constituency MP candidates from the Prachachat Party, for also being members of other parties.

The candidates did not win in the March 24 election but votes for them will be omitted from party-list calculations, said Sawaeng Boonmee, deputy secretary-general of the EC.

Meanwhile, a circular parliamentary letter, seen by the Bangkok Post, indicates the timeline in the process of choosing the new prime minister.

The letter from the House of Representatives secretariat said the names of all 250 senators must be finalised by May 11 and that a list of senators and MPs will be sent to the King for endorsement the following day. Citing Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, the document said parliament is likely to open on May 18 or May 19.

The first joint sitting of both the Lower and Upper houses could take place on May 21 in a TOT Plc meeting hall, where they would vote for their speakers and deputy speakers, according to the letter.

Given that the speakers and the deputies are royally endorsed on May 23, the joint gathering to choose the prime minister is likely to take place the following day.

The meeting cannot be held at the TOT due to limited space so Thammasat University's Tha Prachan Campus would be asked to provide its meeting room, according to the letter.

Meanwhile, the EC on Wednesday announced the result of a recount for Nakhon Pathom's Constituency 1, conducted at Silpakorn University on Sunday.

Democrat candidate Sinthop Kaeophichit received 35,711 votes -- only four more than Future Forward Party candidate Savika Limpasuwanna.

On March 24, Lt Col Sinthop was credited with 35,762 votes, 147 more than Ms Savika receieved.

Meanwhile, the Pheu Thai Party on Wednesday accused the government of raising the salaries of village-based healthcare workers to benefit the Palang Pracharath Party's election campaign and also called for the dissolution of the pro-regime party.

Leading Pheu Thai members held a press conference at their headquarters in Bangkok to attack the cabinet's decision on Dec 4 last year to spend its contingency budget on raising the salaries of more than 1 million healthcare workers nationwide by between 600 baht to 1,000 baht.

The payment was implemented on March 20-22, including a retro-effective sum of 3,000 baht for workers, a few days ahead of the election.

Pheu Thai legal affairs chief, Chusak Sirinil, said the payment appeared to serve political interests and encourage voters to vote for the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o as its prime ministerial candidate. The contingency budget was to be used for immediate disaster relief, he said.

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