This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002156 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND'S OTHER ELECTION: SENATE ELECTIONS 
APPROACH AS THAILAND GIRDS FOR MORE LOWER HOUSE POLLS 
 
REF: BANGKOK 2088 
 
 ¶1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Elections for Thailand's 200 Senate 
seats are scheduled to be held on April 19.  The nominally 
non-political Senate body was last elected in 2000.  Its 
members cannot succeed themselves at the end of their six 
year term.  Though strict, (and in some cases bewildering) 
guidelines claim to ensure the non-political status of the 
body, reality is something else.  The outgoing Senate was 
accused by Thaksin's critics of being heavily influenced by 
the Prime Minister and his party.  The slate of candidates 
running for the new Senate appears to contain many contenders 
with connections to political parties and suggests that the 
institution will remain subject to political pressures.  This 
Senate election is being held amidst the current lower house 
election imbroglio.  While it has no active part in the 
constitutional reform process, the body will at least 
nominally retain a role in approving the  final agreement. 
End summary. 
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE 
 
¶2.  (U)  On April 19, Thai voters will choose 200 Senators 
from among some 1,400 candidates nationwide.  Each province 
is regarded as one constituency and awarded Senate seats 
proportional to population.  In cases where a province has 
more than one senatorial seat, the candidates who receive the 
highest number of votes in respective order will be elected 
as Senators up to the seats available. 
 
RULES TO ASSURE "QUALITY AND NEUTRALITY" 
 
¶3.  (U)  The framers of the 1997 Constitution conceived the 
Senate as a "non-political" body of well-qualified, well- 
regarded citizens, who would be elected to only one six-year 
term and act as a non-partisan watchdog over the "political" 
lower house of Parliament.   To ensure a pool of "quality" 
candidates, this meant a strict and sometimes bewildering set 
of rules on candidates qualifications and campaign rules. 
Contenders must, for example, be over 40, hold a bachelors 
degree or equivalent and be registered in the province they 
stand for election in for not less than one year before 
applying for candidacy. 
 
¶4.  (U)  On the other hand, candidates cannot be a member of 
a political party, a Senator in the preceding term, an MP 
less than a year before announcing candidacy, bankrupt, be 
under criminal court proceedings, having been sentenced by 
the court to imprisonment of two years or more, except for an 
offense committed through negligence; have been ordered by 
the court to have his/her assets confiscated on the ground of 
unusual wealth, be a government official holding a permanent 
position; be a member of a local assembly or a local 
administrator;  be an official or employee of a State agency, 
State enterprise or local government organization, or other 
State official; be an Election Commissioner, an Ombudsman, a 
member of the National Human Right Commission, a judge of the 
Constitutional Court, a judge of an Administrative Court, a 
member of the National Counter Corruption Commission or a 
member of the State Audit Commission; or have been removed 
from office by the resolution of the Senate under Section 307 
of the Constitution with in the past 5 years as to the 
election day. 
 
A "NON-PARTISAN CAMPAIGN" 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  To ensure the neutrality of a senator, the 
election law stipulates that political parties cannot assist 
or support senatorial candidates directly or indirectly.  The 
spirit of the law is that senatorial candidates should be a 
person already widely known in each province for their works 
and qualifications.  Candidates' introduction are arranged by 
the Election Commission, and includes sending bio-data of 
candidates to every household, organizing "candidates meet 
the people" events in public places, setting up posters and 
the allocation of TV and radio air time.  In their public 
statements candidates cannot even promise what they would do 
if elected (though most voters here would assert that a 
promise by a candidate for office is far from relevant 
anyway). Loud-speakers cannot be not be used by senatorial 
candidates to introduce themselves. The distribution of 
self-introduction flyers or pamphlets cannot be made in 
public areas. 
 
POWERS OF THE BODY 
 
¶6.  (U)  The Senate has rights to, among other things, 
reconsideration of a bill objected to by the King; approval 
of the early prorogation of Parliament session; drafting of 
the rules of procedure for the joint sitting; approval of 
treaties made with foreign countries. and to scrutinize draft 
laws that have passed the House of Representatives 
 
¶7. (U)  One of the Senate's more significant (and abused say 
its critics) powers is in its role in vetting some or in many 
cases all nominees for the "independent bodies" such as the 
Election Commission, Ombudsmen, National Human Rights 
Commission, Constitutional Court, Commission of Court of 
Justice, Administrative Court (including a Court member who 
will take the chairmanship of the Administrative Court and 
nominees for Administrative Court Commission), National 
Counter-Corruption Commission (including the NCCC 
Secretary-General), and Auditor-General Commission.  The 
 
SIPDIS 
Senate's selections are forwarded to the King for his 
approval (or disapproval).  (Note:  This has been a major 
point of the Senate's critics however.  Much of the wave of 
sentiment for political reform comes, critics say, from the 
Senate's role in helping Thaksin subvert the governance 
process  by putting his cronies into these so-called watchdog 
bodies.)  (See reftel.) 
 
¶8.  (U)  Another key function of the Senate is its potential 
(and to date very rarely used) role in the impeachment 
process.  The Senate is able to initiate this process at the 
request of one fourth of the lower house, or through the 
petition (certified signatures) of 50,000 persons.  The 
Senate takes up impeachment hearings after first referring 
the case to the National Counter Corruption Commission for 
investigation and decision.  Three fifths of the Senate can 
impeach a person from his position, and the Senate's decision 
is final.  The Senate is empowered to impeach the Prime 
Minister, ministers, members of the House of Representatives, 
members of the Senate, President of the Supreme Court of 
Justice, President of the Constitutional Court, President of 
the Supreme Administrative Court, the Attorney-General, 
members of Election Commission, Ombudsmen, Constitutional 
Court tribunals, members of the Auditor-General, judges or 
tribunals, State Attorney, and high ranking officials in 
National Counter-Corruption Commission if they are found 
involved in corrupt practices. 
 
BUT NON-POLITICAL SENATE - WHO BELIEVES THIS? 
 
¶9.  (SBU)  The outgoing Senate, elected under these rules, 
nonetheless was widely criticized as being to a significant 
degree under the influence of Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (TRT) 
party and to a lesser degree the main opposition Democrat 
Party (DP).  There have been repeated allegations that the 
ruling party paid off Senators to win their support.  Critics 
accused the previous Senate of being faction-ridden and 
acting more as an enabler for Thaksin's alleged packing of 
the independent bodies than as a watchdog institution.  The 
candidate list for this Senate suggests that this accusation 
will continue.  A perusal of the slates reveals numerous 
candidates throughout the country who are either spouses or 
siblings of MPs from the TRT or DP, ex- ministers from both 
parties (as well as the opposition Chart Thai Party), ex-MPs, 
or simply known strong supporters of political parties. 
While the concept may have been good, observers here say, the 
reality of politics, personal connections and family ties all 
militate against the idea. 
 
OVERSHADOWED BY LOWER HOUSE RERUN ELECTIONS 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  Comment:  The Senate poll is being overshadowed 
by the current political imbroglio.  Considerably more public 
attention is being paid to the 40 lower house seats being 
rerun on April 23.  Because the Senate cannot propose 
amendments under the current Constitution, it does not have a 
proactive role in the upcoming political reform process. 
Its major act in the program will probably be to give 
pro-forma approval to whatever the lower house or 
constitutional drafting committee approves and sends up. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BOYCE