Thai Senate election, 2008

Thai Senate election, 2008
Thailand
March 2, 2008
76 (of the 150) seats to the Senate of Thailand
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Nonpartisan Appointed
Seats won 76 74
Thailand
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Thailand

Senate elections were held in Thailand on 2 March 2008 for the first time under the new constitution. Voter turnout was 56%.[1] Results were expected on 9 March 2008.[2]

76 candidates were elected, one for each province, while 74 senators will be appointed by a selection panel headed by the Constitution Tribunal's president Virat Limvichai. Nominations for these seats were made by professional groups between 13 January and 18 January 2008, whereafter a panel appointed by the Electoral Commission vetted the nominees' credentials before forwarding the nominations to the selection panel.[3] The Thai Election Commission endorsed the 74 senators selected from the nominations.[4] The senators will serve six-year terms.

The appointed senators are considered to be closer to the outgoing military administration,[5] while among the elected senators a substantial number are closely connected to deposed former PM Thaksin. A prominent critic of Thaksin and anti-corruption activist also appeared to have been elected.[6]

On 13 March 2008, the Senate President was elected. The former Appeals Court president Prasopsuk Boondej, a nominated senator, received 78 votes. Thaweesak Khidbanchong, considered to be close to former minister Newin Chidchob, received 45 votes; General Lertrat Ratanawanit, reportedly closely connected to the defunct coup-making Council for National Security received 15 votes, and Police Lieutenant-General Manoj Kraiwong, who had been criticised for having leaned onto the opposition Democrat Party, received six votes.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Low turnout in Thai Senate vote BBC News, 3 March 2008
  2. ↑ Bangkok Post Breaking News
  3. ↑ Thailand's Election Commission to organize senatorial election and selection early 2008 People's Daily 28 December 2007
  4. ↑ Thai Election Commission endorses appointed senators People's Daily, 19 February 2008
  5. ↑ BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Low turnout in Thai Senate vote
  6. ↑ AFP: Thaksin allies make strong showing in Thai Senate race
  7. ↑ MCOT English News : Prasopsuk elected Speaker of Thai Senate
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/20/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.