• 
• 

Published on December 27, 2007

The process of selecting 74 senators will begin on January 2 and the results will be announced by February 21.

This was the outcome of a meeting yesterday of the selection committee, as stipulated by the new constitution.

The selection committee is made up of representatives from seven organisations. It includes Election Commission head Apichart Sukhagganond; Colonel Teeradej Meepian, chief of the Ombudsman's Office; Virat Limvichai, president of Supreme Court and acting president of the Constitution Court; Panthep Klanarongran, chairman of the National Counter Corruption Commission; Khunying Jaruwan Maintaka, on behalf of the Asset Examination Commission.

Virat was elected chairman of the selection committee.

Nomination for the 74 appointed senators will be accepted from January 3 to 17.

Suthiphol Thaweechaikarn, secretary of the Election Commission (EC), reiterated that only organisations with legally recognised status could endorse a candidate for consideration.

These include professional organisations, NGOs, state organisation and more, but they all must have been registered for no less than three years and must not be profit-making.

Each organisation could only submit one name as a candidate and the seven-person selection committee would consider various expertise, experience, gender and age balance. They would also ensure that the socially underprivileged would be considered.

Five sub-committees would be set up, said Suthiphol, and would include a public relations subcommittee to inform the public about the process.

The system differs from those under the 1997 charter, whereby all senators were elected. Under the 2007 Constitution, 74 will be selected and appointed, while 76 - one from each province - would be elected.

There were concerns about the large pool of candidates likely to be submitted but Suthiphol said he was not too worried.

Bona fide candidates must, under Article 128 of Election of MPs and Selection and Election of Senators Law, have a record of working for the body nominating them.

Anyone opposed to any selection after the announcement can petition the Supreme Court, which will have a year to consider such cases.

The Election Commission has set March 2 for the Senate election. Under the new system 76 of the 150 seats in the upper chamber will be elected via direct voting. Each elected senator will represent one province.

For the remaining 74 seats, a panel, made up of representatives from the courts and independent organisations set up by organic laws, will select candidates nominated by various professional groups.

Atthayuth Butrsripoom

The Nation