Thailand's 'Democratic' Senate Finally Sworn In by Phairath Khampha 30 August 2000 After five months of corrupt electoral activity and fraud, five rounds of voting and millions of baht spent on vote-buying, Thailand swore in its new Senate on August 1, 2000. The achievement followed an agonising campaign against vote-buying, which the Election Commissioner said had to be eliminated before general elections later in 2000. "Today we lit a candle, but whether that candle will stay lit is the question," said Yuwarat Kamolvej, who has won both acclaim and reproach for his rigorous campaign to clean up the electoral process. He was also alluding to the fact that the electoral process was covered only by a thin veil of a democratic process and that through corrupt activities, electoral fraud and outright Mafia tactics, Thailand's economic and political elite basically put themselves in power and that Thailand's people were more or less powerless in choosing whom they wanted to be their leaders. The legislative drive against money politics was instigated by Thailand's 1997 so-called "good governance" constitution, which was adopted following the economic crisis to bring the "Land of the Smiles" a cleaner, and supposedly more democratic government. For the first time in Thai history, the constitution empowered the people to directly elect senators. It gave the Election Commission authority to call a re-vote in regions where accusations of vote-buying were substantiated, something Mr Yuwarat did five times. After the first round of voting on March 4, he rejected the victories of 78 candidates because of fraud, killings of candidates by their rivals and strong-arm tactics aimed at forcing the people to cast votes in favour of certain members of Thailand's economic and political elite. In a handful of remote provinces, that happened four more times until he was finally satisfied. Thanks to this effort, the 200 new senators theoretically should be a less corrupt, better-qualified bunch than their appointed predecessors. They are required to hold a university degree, and face expulsion if convicted of any crime. However, most Thais in the streets do not believe it and many said that the lot were for the most part a bunch of gangsters and crooks which the corrupt police and judicial system readily accepted bribes to ignore their illegal activities. Speaker Sanit Worapanya, elected on August 1 with 112 votes, is a career bureaucrat with ties to the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thailand) party, led by billionaire and prime ministerial hopeful Thaksin Shinawatra. With stricter regulation came wider authority for the Senate, hence wider opportunity for corrupt Machiavellian machinations and the opportunity to steal more of the nation's wealth. The senators have power to vet legislation passed by the Lower House and can sack senior ministers, parliamentarians and court officials. This is enormous power, guaranteed to be used to further their venal ways. The arduous and expensive process that it took to get them in place led to complaints that the new electoral system still needed fine-tuning. Under the current system, candidates caught buying votes were still free to campaign for subsequent rounds of voting. The message in effect was: try again, but do not be caught again carrying out illegal activities. A number of candidates sailed to victory in successive stages of balloting, despite proof that they paid for their support each time. One poll watchdog group estimated that US$540 million was squandered over the campaign, hence making it quite obvious that the election was far from a democratic process. The whole ordeal cost the Government a punishing US$600 million, according to an Election Commission official. The lengthy process also led to voter apathy. More than 70 percent of eligible voters turned out in the first round, but less than half that figure during successive re-votes when they realised the whole process was a farce which mainly served foreign apologists with some grist to prove that Thailand was becoming more 'democratic'. This prompted widespread calls for the outgoing House of Representatives to modify the electoral law before Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai dissolves Parliament, something he had to do before November 2000. "If we amend the election law to disqualify candidates who buy votes, and it can pass through Parliament, then things will be better in the next round," said Mr Yuwarat. Some political analysts raised doubts that MPs would see the benefit in further regulating the electoral process because it would mean they would then find it more difficult to carry out their venal activities and steal from the people and the country's wealth. But, all in all, observers have described the poll marathon as a vital, if difficult, process for Thailand to undergo as it attempts to become more democratic. "It is an experiment that we have to make," said Tulsathit Taptim, a senior editor at the English-language Nation newspaper.