Acquisition of Members of the House of Representatives of Thailand Consistent with the Majority Rule Based on the True Will of People

Abstract

The academic article aimed (1) to analyze the problem of obtaining members of Thailand's House of Representatives under the provisions of the 2017 Constitution and (2) to propose acquisition guidelines for House of Representatives members in accordance with the majority rule based on the true will of the people. This article argued that democracy was the political regime that ultimately responded to people's rights and freedoms and that the principle of majority rule based on the authentic will of the people was literally important because it embodied popular sovereignty, the supreme power held by the people. It illustrated the problem of obtaining members of the House of Representatives under the provisions of the 2017 Constitution that were contrary to the majority rule principle. The acquisition guidelines for obtaining House of Representatives members proposed in this article, in accordance with the majority rule based on the true will of the people, included three characteristics: 1) consisting of two types of members, and a mixed proportional electoral system using two ballots should be implemented in order to respond to people's needs and verify the most populous party legitimated for administrative power; 2) the number of the members should be flexible in order to proportionally balance between the result in constituencies and the party’s popular votes to reflect the people’s will in the selection of the Prime Minister, the head of the administrative branch; and 3) the candidates are allowed in both constituency and political party's lists.