At stake
in this election:
- Seats in the Senate (Wuthisapha):
200
|
Description
of government structure:
- Chief of State: King BHUMBOL
Adunyadej
- Head of Government: Prime Minister
CHUAN Leekpai
- Parliament: Thailand currently
has a bicameral National Assembly with a 253-member Senate of Wuthisapha and a House of Representatives or Sapha Phuthaen Ratsadon with 391 seats.
- *Note: The Constitution of 1997
mandates that the Senate be reduced to 200 members and that the House of Representatives be increased to 500 members. In accordance with these provisions, 200 members will be elected to the Senate by simple majority vote in these elections.
|
Description
of electoral system:
- The king is a hereditary monarch.
- All 253 members of the Senate were
formerly appointed by the king to serve six-year terms.
- All 391 members of the House of
Representatives were elected by simple majority vote to four-year terms.
- *Note: In the next election to the
House of Representatives, 100 members will be elected from party lists and 400 on a consitituency basis.
|
Main parties in the electoral races:
- Under the 1997 Thai Constitution, candidates for the Senate are not allowed to represent political parties.
|
When was
the last election? Number of seats in last election?
- This is the first election to the Senate (Wuthisapha)
- Parliamentary elections last held:
November 17, 1996
- Seats decided in the last election to
the House of Representatives: 391
|
Population
and number of registered voters:
- Population: 60,609,046 (July 1999)
- Number of registered voters: 38,000,000 (1996)
|
Of Interest:
- The March 4, 2000 election is
Thailand's first election to the Senate. Prior to the Constitution of 1997, the king
appointed all members of the Senate upon recommendation by the prime minister.
- This election is the first in which
expatriate voters will be allowed to participate.
- Elections to the House of
Representatives must be called no later than November, 2000.
|
| SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES) |
| For additional information:
IFES ElectionGuide Online |
