Thailand: Senate hopefuls pick 200 candidates

• The Senate candidacy process has concluded with 200 candidates rounded off for final selection by the regime amid complaints of vote-swapping and vote-buying.
• Election Commission (EC) Chairman Ittiporn Boonpracong said the Senate candidate selection process at the national level finished early and smoothly with 200 candidates selected from a pool of 2,746.
• The names of 200 shortlisted candidates, nominated either by themselves or organisations, will be presented to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) which will appoint 50 of them as senators. Another 50 will be kept in a reserve list.
• The 50 appointees will join 194 other senators hand-picked by the NCPO. The six remaining seats are to be occupied by the armed forces leaders, the supreme commander, the defence permanent secretary and national police chief.
• There will be 250 senators in total, who after the next election will take part in voting for the new prime minister.

External Link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/1601866/senate-hopefuls-pick-200-candidates