The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has accepted in principle the two bills governing the election of MPs and the selection of senators.
The lawmakers voted in the first reading on Thursday. They also appointed two panels to vet the bills, the last two constitutionally required before the general election can be held.
Meechai Ruchupan, chief of constitutional writers, said opinions of the people and the Election Commission had been taken into consideration when drafting them.
He defended the introduction of the requirement that MP candidates be assigned numbers which are different from their parties' numbers. The change has triggered concerns of confusing voters. In past elections, candidates campaigned using their parties' numbers.
“The new requirement will force parties to field candidates favoured by their constituencies. We also changed the vote-counting rule by giving weight to “no-votes” where voters express the desire not to vote for anyone."
An EC commissioner may stop the vote as soon as they detect irregularities. “We made a clear distinction between 'dishonest' and 'unfair' because the punishment is severe -- a life ban on political rights,” Mr Meechai said.
The NLA members debated the bills in detail, including the electronic vote, but not in principle, easing a concern the bills might be voted down and the polls delayed.
On the senator selection, some members questioned the effectiveness in eliminating collusion of the senators' bill, saying cross-election among profession groups might not be the answer.
