The majority of a parliamentary committee examining a couple of bills amending two election-related organic laws on Wednesday voted in favour of using different candidacy numbers for constituency candidates and their political parties.
Thirty-two members of the cabinet, Senate and government coalition parties closed ranks and voted for the different numbers while 14 members -- 12 from the opposition camp and two from the Democrat Party -- backed the use of a single number for a political party and MP candidates across the country. Panel chairman Sathit Pitutecha abstained.
Pheu Thai Party and opposition leader Cholnan Srikaew said he believed the decision stemmed from fears his party would score a landslide victory in the next poll rather than out of concern for constitutionality.
He said the party and the Move Forward Party (MFP) wanted constituency candidates and the political parties to share the same ballot number because it would be easier for voters.
Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, a former election commissioner and a member representing the opposition Seri Ruam Thai Party, said using the same candidacy numbers would make managing elections easier as the poll agency would not have to prepare 400 different ballot papers for all 400 constituencies and another set for the party-list vote.
However, several members representing the coalition parties said they did not want to risk violating Section 90 of the constitution and that using different numbers could reduce vote-buying.
The section says political parties can contest the party-list system after fielding constituency candidates.
Yutthaporn Issarachai, a political scientist at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, insisted that using the same numbers does not violate the charter because Section 90 does not require the registered constituency candidates to be given numbers.
The academic said medium and small parties do not want the same candidacy numbers because the practice gives major political parties such as Pheu Thai an edge.
He said vote-buying was unrelated.
