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House of Representatives of Thailand

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House of Representatives of Thailand
สภาผู้แทนราษฎรไทย
Saphaputhan Ratsadonthai
Type
Type Lower house
Leadership
Speaker
 Chai Chidchob, (Friends of Newin Group)
since May 15, 2008
Leader of the Governing Coalition
and Prime Minister of Thailand		 Abhisit Vejjajiva, (Democrat)
since December 15, 2008
Structure
Members 480 MPs
Political groups For Thais Party,
Democrat Party,
For the Motherland,
Thais United National Development Party,
Royalist People's Party,
Thai Nation Development Party,
Proud Thais Party,
Social Action Party Others
Election
Last election December 23, 2007
Meeting place
Parliament House of Thailand
Web site
www.parliament.go.th
Thailand

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Thailand
King
Government
National Assembly
Judiciary
Elections
Constitution
Subdivisions
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The House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: สภาผู้แทนราษฎร: Saphaputhan Ratsadon) is the lower house of the National Assembly of Thailand, the legislative branch of the Thai Government. The system of government of Thailand is that of a Constitutional Monarchy and a Parliamentary Democracy. The system of the Thai legislative branch was modelled after the Westminster system. The House of Representatives has 480 Members: 400 Members are democratically elected through single constituency elections, while the other 80 are appointed accordingly through proportional representation. The roles and powers of the House of Representatives have been enshrined in the Constitution of 2007.

Contents

[edit] History

The House of Representatives was established after the Revolution of 1932, when the Khana Ratsadon (the "People’s Party"), overthrew the absolute monarchy and replaced it with the present system of constitutional monarchy. When King Prajadhipok signed the Temporary Constitution of 1932, he established the first legislative assembly in Thailand, however, it was an entirely royally-appointed chamber. The first session of the People’s Assembly was held on June 28, 1932, in the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall. From then on, the House existed in various forms until the present form in 2007:

See more at: Constitutions of Thailand

  • 1946- The 1946 constitution established a fully elected House of Representatives.
  • 1952- Establishment of the unicameral National Assembly with 123 members.
  • 1959- The House was banned by Sarit Dhanarajata.
  • 1968- The House was re-established with 219 members.
  • 1972- The House was banned by Thanom Kittikachorn.
  • 1974- Establishment of the House of Representatives.
  • 1976- Establishment of a unicameral National Assembly with 360 royally-appointed members.
  • 1978- Return of an elected House with 301 members.
  • 1991- Establishment of a unicameral National Assembly with 292 appointed members.
  • 1997- Establishment of a 500 member House of Representatives, 400 directly elected with 100 elected through proportional representation.
  • 2006- Following the coup, an interim charter was signed establishing a 250 member National Legislative Assembly.
  • 2007- Present system established, by referendum under the 2007 Constitution of Thailand.

[edit] Qualification

The qualifications to be a candidate for the House of Representatives are outlined in Section 101, Part 2, Chapter 6 of the 2007 Constitution. The candidate must be a citizen of Thailand by birth only. The citizen must be at the age of twenty-five or older on Election Day and having been born in the province in which he or she intends to stand as a candidate. The candidate must have been a voter and therefore on the electoral register for at least five years directly before the election, and he or she must also have a house or been in public service in the province for five years. The candidate must also have been a member of an educational institution in that province for at least five consecutive years. Politically, a candidate must be a member of one political party for a period of at least ninety days before Election Day, except in cases of dissolution where thirty days is the minimum period. This is done to discourage party switching before the election. For party list candidates, they must also meet the same qualifications except for the provincial restrictions. They are instead divided in lists based on provincial groups.

Those specifically barred from being candidates and therefore members of the House are individuals who were: addicted to drugs, declared bankrupt, unable to vote (see voter eligibility bellow), a former convicted felon (the individual must wait for five years after release to be eligible), removed from public service for being corrupt or incompetent, had assets confiscated for being unusually wealthy; and finally, the individual must not be a member of the: government or civil service, Senate, local administrations, member of the judiciary or other independent agencies.

[edit] Elections

The House of Representatives has 480 members. 400 members are directly elected in single constituency elections based on the First Past the Post system. The 400 constituencies are divided by population according to the census and provincial division.

The other 80 members are appointed based on ‘proportional representation’ it is actually in truth a Parallel voting system or more precisely the Mixed Member Majoritarian system (MMM). In Thai general elections, the voters have two votes: one to select their Member of Parliament for their constituency and the second to choose which ever party they prefer more. Seats are assigned to parties as a result through party lists. 10 MPs per the 8 Party-list Areas, as follows:

Map of electoral areas

In accordance with the 2007 Constitution of Thailand, a general election must be held every 4 years. Dissolution can happen anytime, which is usually done by the King with the advice of the Prime Minister through the use of the Royal Decree. Elections are held under universal suffrage; every voter must be a National of Thailand; if not by birth then by being a citizen for 5 years. Must be over 18 years old before the year the election is held. The voter must have also registered ninety days before the election at his constituency. Voting in elections are also mandatory missing an election will result in minor tax penalties and other penalties. Those barred from voting in House elections are: members of the clergy, those suspended from the privilege for various reasons, detainees under legal or court orders and being of unsound mind or of mental infirmity.

See most recent election at: Thai general election, 2007

[edit] Term and Dissolution

The term of the House of Representatives is exactly four years from the previous Election Day. Upon the expiration of the House, the King will issue a Royal Decree calling for a general election of the House, in which the date of the election must be announced; this must be done within forty days of the expiration. The date of the election must be the same for the entire kingdom.

The King holds the Royal prerogative to dissolve the House before its expiration. When this happens a Royal Decree is issue where the election date is announced; this must be done no less than forty days and not more than sixty days from the date of dissolution. The reasons and circumstances of a dissolution can be made only once.

[edit] Membership

Members of the House of Representatives are generally called: Members of Parliament or MPs (Thai: สมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎร or ส.ส.). The membership of the House of Representatives commences on Election Day. If there is a vacancy in the membership of the House, and it was not due to expiration or dissolution, it must be re-occupied. Vacancies may occur due to: death, resignation, being convicted and being expelled (only by parliamentary party through a 3/4 majority vote). If the vacancy is of a constituency member then an election must be held within forty days of the vacancy, unless less than 180 days of the present term of the House remains, the vacancy can remain.

In the case where the vacancy is made by a proportional representative member, the vacancy will be filled by the Speaker of the House of Representatives by submitting the name of the next candidate in the party list (submitted on election day) to be published in the Royal Gazette. This must be done within seven days. If no name is to be founded then the vacancy can remain unfilled. Members of the House who has filled a vacancy under either of these procedures can only remain in the House for the remainder of its present term.

[edit] Power and Privileges

[edit] Powers

According to the 2007 Constitution of Thailand, the House of Representatives is granted many powers, most of them are shared with Senate of Thailand. These common powers are:

  • Legislation
  • Scrutiny
  • Passing of annual Appropriations Bills
  • Constitutional Amendments

Exclusive powers:

  • Primary legislative chamber.
  • Creating and appointing committees to examine bills.
  • Power to call Ministers to account (by appearing in the chamber and answering questions)
  • Removal of the Prime Minister through a "vote of no confidence" (more than 1/5 to vote for a debate, and a simple majority for removal).
  • Removal of Ministers (more than 1/6 to vote for a debate, and a simple majority for removal).
  • Selection of its Officers.
  • Expulsion of members
  • Determination of its own rules and procedures.

[edit] Privileges

No member of the House can be arrested, detained or summoned by a warrant for an inquiry as the suspect in a criminal case unless permission of the House of which he or she is a member is obtained or he or she is arrested in flagrante delicto.

[edit] Leadership

[edit] Presiding Officers

The executive committee of House of Representatives consists of one Speaker and two Deputy Speakers to be its presiding officers. The Speaker of the House is also the ex officio President of the National Assembly of Thailand. The election is done by secret ballot in the first session; after a resolution is passed; the elected will be formally approved by the King. The Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the House cannot be a member of the cabinet or any political party executive committee. The Speaker and his deputies are not entitled to represent partisan interests and must exercise their powers on a non-partisan basis. The current Officers are:[1]

  • Speaker of the House of Representatives and President of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Thailand:

The Right Honorable Chai Chidchob (MP from Party-List 4th Area, Buri Ram Province, of the Friends of Newin Group)

  • 1st Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives:

The Right Honorable Samart Keawmeechai (MP from the 1st District of Chiang Rai Province, of the For Thais Party)

  • 2nd Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives:

The Right Honorable Dr. Apiwan Wiriyachai (MP from the 2nd District of Nonthaburi Province, of the For Thais Party)

[edit] Leader of the Governing Coalition

The Constitution stipulates that the Prime Minister and the Ministers must be former members of the House of Representatives. After the first session, the House must vote in a resolution to elect a Prime Minister, after which the King will formally approve him within thirty days. The Prime Minister-elect is always the leader of the largest party in the House. However, under the present electoral system, the House is most likely to result in a hung parliament. Therefore, after the general election of 2007, six parties formed a governing coalition, electing Samak Sundaravej of the largest party, the now banned PPP, the Prime Minister.

The House voted 310 for Samak and 163 for Abhisit. The six-party governing coalition was made up of: the now banned PPP, PRP, Pua Paendin, RJCPP, the now banned MCMP and the now banned CTP. Leaving the Democrat Party as an opposition party. In September 2008, the House elected Somchai Wongsawat after the resignation of Samak as the leader of the governing coalition to a vote of 298 against 163 for Abhisit. On December 2, 2008, the Constitutional Court dissolved the PPP, the CTP, and the MCMPthereby ending the governing coalition.[2]

On December 15, 2008, the House elected Abhisit Vejjajiva Prime Minister against Pracha Promnok of the successor to the PPP, the For Thais Party, to a vote of 234 for and 198 against and 3 abstaining.

  • The current Leader of the Governing Coalition and Prime Minister is:

The Honorable Abhisit Vejjajiva (MP from Party-List 6th Area, Bangkok Metropolitan Area, of the Democrat Party)

[edit] Leader of the Opposition

After the appointment of the Cabinet, the King appointed the official Leader of the Opposition of Thailand. The Leader of the Opposition must be the leader of the largest party with no members holding any ministerial positions. His party must be larger than 1/5 of the total number of the House. If no Party meets this qualification then the Leader with most votes from parties with no ministerial positions will then be appointed. The Royal appointment must be countersigned by the President of the National Assembly. The Leader of the Opposition will lead the Shadow Cabinet of Thailand.

  • The current Leader of the Opposition is:

vacant

[edit] Most Recent General Election Results

Main article: Thai general election, 2007
[discuss] – [edit]
Summary of the 23 December 2007 House of Representatives of Thailand Thai general election results
Party Constituency Proportional TOTAL
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
People's Power Party 26,293,456 36.63 199 14,071,799 39.60 34 233
Democrat Party 21,745,696 30.30 132 14,084,265 39.63 33 165
Thai Nation Party 6,363,475 8.87 33 1,545,282 4.35 4 37
For the Motherland 6,599,422 9.19 17 1,981,021 5.57 7 24
Thais United National Development Party 3,395,197 4.73 8 948,544 2.67 1 9
Neutral Democratic Party 3,844,673 5.36 7 528,464 1.49 0 7
Royalist People's Party 1,632,795 2.27 4 750,158 2.11 1 5
Others 1,897,953 2.64 — 1,626,234 4.58 — 0
Valid votes 71,772,667* 100 400 35,535,767 100 80 480
No Votes   906,216 2.32
Invalid Votes 2,539,429 6.51
Total Turnout 38,981,412 85.38
Source: The Nation

* As constituencies elect between one and three MPs, some people have two or three votes.

[edit] Current Composition

Current allotment of seats, following the dissolution of the three former coalition parties by the Constitutional Court of Thailand, on December 2, 2008. On January 11, 2009, a by-election was held to re-occupy 29 vacant seats; the results were in favor of the five-party, Democrat-led coalition, giving it 20 of the 29 seats.[3]

See more at: 2008 Party Dissolution ruling

[discuss] – [edit]
Composition of the House of Representatives of Thailand, Since December 2008, and then after the January 2009 by-Election
Parties Leader Previous seats Changes Current seats
For Thais Party formerly PPP Yongyuth Wichaidit 232 (-45) 187
Democrat Party‡ Abhisit Vejjajiva 165 (+8) 173
Proud Thais Party‡ formerly NDP Chaovarat Chanweerakul 11 (+21) 32
For the Motherland‡ Chanchai Chairungrueng 24 (+8) 32
Thai Nation Development Party‡ formerly CTP Chumpol Silpa-archa 34 (-9) 25
Thais United National Development Party‡ Dr. Varnarat Chanukul 9 9
Royalist People's Party Sanoh Thienthong 5 (+4) 8
Social Action Party Suwit Khunkitti - (+5) 5
Matubhum Party - (+3) 3
Total 474
Source: The Nation.com, The Nation.com
† The party and its executives were banned, but none of them [the executives] were MPs.
‡ Coalition partners

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.parliament.go.th/
  2. ^ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/worldhotnews/read.php?newsid=30089990
  3. ^ http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2009/01/12/politics/politics_30092986.php
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