THAIS SELECT AND PREPARE TO ELECT A NEW SENATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 000633

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MLS; NSC FOR PHU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2018
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM TH
SUBJECT: THAIS SELECT AND PREPARE TO ELECT A NEW SENATE

REF: BANGKOK 84 (SENATE SELECTION BEGINS)

Classified By: Political Counselor Susan Sutton, reason 1.4 (b) and (d)
.

SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) A committee has completed its selection of 74 of the
150 Senators in the country's semi-elected upper house of
Parliament, following a review of over 1,000 nominations.
Elections scheduled for March 2 will fill the remaining 76
seats in a body designed to review legislation passed by the
fully-elected lower house. The selected Senators represent a
broad range of professions, with lawyers, academics, retired
military personnel, and ex-bureaucrats heavily represented.
There are 487 candidates competing in the March 2 Senate
elections, although low turnout in February 23-24 advanced
voting may be indicative of voter apathy. There have been
few allegations of vote-buying, which have plagued prior
Senate elections. While the constitution's framers may hope
the Senate will be non-partisan, it remains to be seen how
the new Senators will ultimately vote and what kind of
dynamic will be created inside the unprecedented semi-elected
body. End summary.

COMMITTEE COMPLETES SENATE SELECTION
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2. (U) On February 19, the Election Commission of Thailand
(ECT) formally endorsed a diverse group of 74 individuals to
serve as Senators in the 150-seat semi-elected upper house of
Parliament. A seven-person Senate selection committee
composed of leading Thai jurists and the heads of independent
government agencies selected the group following a month-long
review of 1,087 Senate nominations (reftel). In addition to
the 74 selected Senators, the constitution calls for each of
the country's 76 provinces to elect one Senator to the upper
house of parliament in March 2 elections.

A MOTLEY CREW
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3. (U) The selected Senators represent a wide range of
professions, although many are former bureaucrats. Of the 74
selected Senators, 62 are men, while 12 are women; they
reportedly range from 43 to 73 years of age. The appointed
Senators represent a broad range of professions, including at
least 16 academics, 16 lawyers and former legislators, eight
health professionals, eight journalists, and four former
local government officials. Business leaders, accountants,
and at least one farmer were also selected. Eight members of
the National Legislative Assembly, an interim body appointed
by the leaders of the September 2006 coup d'etat, received
Senatorial appointments. At least 14 appointed Senators had
reportedly served in the armed services and Royal Thai
Police, although the constitution prohibits the selection of
active-duty personnel and civil servants.


4. (SBU) Observers noted that several very well-known
candidates failed to garner an appointment. Among them were
notable anti-Thaksin activists, renowned business leaders and
academics, and prominent retired bureaucrats. Some activists
criticized the committee for failing to appoint more civil
society and NGO leaders. At the same time, other groups
reportedly criticized two outspoken civil rights activists
for accepting a position given in a "non-democratic" manner.
Following the ECT's endorsement, complaints were filed
against several of the selected Senators, alleging they did
not legally qualify for selection or had other issues in
their backgrounds. On February 23, the ECT announced it
would review these complaints and issue a ruling on their
validity.


5. (C) Comment: The decision to revert to the selection of
part of the Senate was among the most controversial elements
in the 2007 constitution. The constitutional framers
envisioned a non-partisan Senate to provide a second look at
laws passed by the lower house, and the Senate selection
committee appears to have selected mostly retired bureaucrats

BANGKOK 00000633 002 OF 002


and experienced lawyers to fill this role. While it remains
to be seen how these 74 appointed Senators will vote on the
issues, on the whole the Senate selection committee appears
to have spurned extremely controversial or polarizing
figures. End comment.

THAI VOTERS RETURN TO THE POLLS
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6. (U) The ECT has scheduled elections on March 2 to fill the
remaining 76 seats in the Senate. Each of Thailand's 76
provinces will elect one Senator to serve a six-year term.
There are 487 candidates registered to compete in elections
throughout the country. In Bangkok, the country's most
populous Senate district, 35 candidates have registered,
while in southern Phang Nga Province, only one candidate has
registered and is running unopposed. The ECT will reportedly
announce unofficial results by 9:00 p.m. local time on March

2.


7. (U) On February 25, the ECT announced that 1.27 million
voters had cast ballots throughout the country on February
23-24 ahead of the planned March 2 Senate elections
(approximately 3 percent of the electorate). This number
includes voters, mostly in Bangkok, who cast absentee votes
for candidates running in other provinces, as well as
individuals who are unable to vote in their home precincts on
March 2 (such as poll workers). Turnout for advanced voting
was dramatically lower than for advance voting prior to the
December 23 election for the lower house of Parliament, when
nearly 3 million voters cast their votes in advance. An
Election Commissioner reportedly speculated that the low
turnout resulted from voter frustration that Senators in
populous provinces represented many more people than Senators
in less-populated provinces. Other ECT officials blamed the
low turnout on voter apathy. The ECT reportedly urged local
officials to retool their get-out-the-vote campaign to meet a
turnout of 70 percent. (Note: Turnout in the December 23
elections exceeded 70 percent, but few expect similar turnout
in the Senate elections. End note.)


8. (C) Comment: This is only the third time in history that
Thais will elect Senators. (Prior to the promulgation of the
1997 constitution, all Thai Senators were appointed.)
Critics of the fully-elected Senate under the 1997
constitution derided the so-called "husbands and wives
chamber" after a number of spouses of representatives in the
lower house were elected Senators in 2006. Although strict
election laws are designed to reduce the influence of
political parties and relatives of representatives, it
remains to be seen whether these laws will achieve their
intent, or how elected Senators will get along with their
non-elected colleagues. There have been relatively few
public allegations of vote-buying ahead of the Senate
elections, although vote-buying has been a problem in
previous Senate elections and accusations may still surface.
End comment.
JOHN