Thai Parliament approves election system charter change

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament has approved a constitutional amendment changing how lawmakers are elected, a move expected to allocate more seats to big parties at the expense of smaller ones. The amendment is a legacy of the long and bitter political struggle between supporters and opponents of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a billionaire populist who was ousted as prime minister by a 2006 military coup. The system approved Friday will give voters two separate ballots. One will be for their favored candidate in single-seat constituencies, and the other for the political party they support. Critics charge that other clauses remain in the constitution that are undemocratic.