พรรคอนาคตใหม่กับระบบการคัดสรรผู้สมัครรับเลือกตั้งสมาชิกสภาผู้แทนราษฎรจังหวัดเชียงใหม่ ในการเลือกตั้งทั่วไปวันที่ 24 มีนาคม พ.ศ. 2562

Abstract

The objectives of this research paper are to study and analyze the process for the Member of the House of Representatives in Chiang Mai Province and the use of the Future Forward Party's primary vote system in the general election on 24 March 2019, and to analyze the problems, limitations, and recommendations of the Chiang Mai House of Representatives selection system and the use of the Future Forward Party’s primary vote during the general election on the same period. This research employed a qualitative method, and the researcher accumulated data from documentary research and in-depth interviews with a group of 17 informants. The data were analyzed using the conceptual framework and theories about political parties, and the conceptual framework of the electoral system and candidate selection. The results showed that the Organic Act on Political Parties (B.E. 2560) provides guidelines for political parties to adopt primary vote in candidate selection for the House of Representatives for the first time, but this approach was exempt from the Head of the National Council for Peace and Order No. 13/256. However, the Future Forward Party still chose to use primary vote through an online platform where the party’s central election committee would interview, screen and select to seek for a qualified person, with the upright legal and political views, and then arrange a voting system for party members to do an online vote. Nevertheless, although every member has the right to vote, the only person who has the power to make the final decision or “knock” on selecting a candidate to represent in an election is the party's executive committee, and any decision made from the committee is considered final according to the regulations of the Future Forward Party. The adoption of the primary vote system as a means for candidate selection for the Future Forward Party still encountered some external and internal problems and obstacles. As for the external factors, there were problems related to the Organic Act on Political Parties B.E. 2560, particularly on the sections relevant to the selection of candidates for an election, such as the requirement for political parties to have all four party branches – one in each part of the country – or the minimum number of party members. These were major obstacles that hindered political parties from organizing an online primary vote. As for internal factors, there were problems within political parties that occurred on a national level, and that happened in the case of Chiang Mai Province as well. The problems included i) technical problems as the online system for the primary vote was not completed; therefore, the website crashed, and party members did not receive a One Time Password (OTP) in the online primary vote; ii) party members’ participation issues in the online primary vote. There were only a small number of participants voting in the primary vote (35.5% out of the total number of 14,203 Future Forward Party members in the country); iii) there were also time limitations. Although the primary vote system allowed the Future Forward Party to completely select and submit all 350 candidates from the constituencies in a short period of time, there were still problems in coordination, communication, and collaboration between candidates and party branches or provincial representatives of the Future Forward Party in the election campaign; and iv) there were problems, complaints and attacks on the online primary vote from those who were not selected to run for the election on behalf of the Future Forward Party, and this was a common problem found in Chiang Mai and many constituencies. Based on the findings, the researcher proposed the following suggestions: several sections of the Organic Act on Political Parties should be reconsidered and opinions from stakeholders should be taken in consideration and should therefore be applied to the current sections so that they are consistent to the reality. Besides, to know the exact number of party members, there should be a system recording all of the information of party’s members. In addition, political parties need to raise awareness of the people regarding the importance of being a political party member, the primary vote system, and campaigns and public relations encouraging political members to exercise their right to vote in a primary vote. These approaches will potentially increase the electoral participation of political party members, create transparency in the system, and emphasize that a primary vote is not just a superficial act. This will be the cornerstone of building democracy within political parties (Intra-Party Democracy) and the Quality of the Representation.