The drafters of the constitution may have stipulated a new type of electoral system for Thailand – a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system – but Mahidol University professor Gothom Arya has doubts. He believes an MMP system would lead to a coalition government. More importantly, he says, is the question: are Thai people ready to accept it? A seminar held on Sunday by the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies (IHRP) on “Election System Reform in Thailand: MMP or another system?” discussed the system along with invited international communities who had adopted it.
Ekapan Pinthavanish, another Mahidol University professor, said the MMP was the fairest electoral system because it made every vote count.
However, he said the issue would be how people understood eligible votes, which even some political scientists were still confused about.
Andrew Ellis, a member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistant (IDEA), said it was possible to design an electoral system, but the important factor was the intention of the system.
Full Article: Will new voting system work for Thailand? – The Nation.