The attempt to adopt a mixed-member proportional election system ...

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system. It will be a compensatory system. What Jaran has proposed is
such a system. (CDC 39:99)
Nakharin’s own position had been clear for a long time. He reiterated, also reproducing
the conservative vocabulary, “If I should choose, I think moderate change would
be better.” He was in favor of 320 single-member constituencies, combined with 80
proportional MPs. “I think that supporting this is better. It is a change that can be understood
easily” (ibid: 99f.).
In order to deal with the persisting differences regarding the election system
design, Phairote Phromsan suggested establishing a working group with Jaran, Pisit,
Krirkkiat, and himself. Somkhit’s response was clear: “There is no time” (ibid: 104).
Phairote tried again, prompting Somkhit to ask him, “It is the same, right? That is, the
system of 1997, right?” Yes, Phairote responded, it was the same, only that their model
did not have the national party lists any longer but regional lists (ibid: 105). Jaran
followed by framing the alternative from his perspective,
We must choose which model we want. If we want to have a strong government,
and have the opportunity for a party to gain a huge majority, then
I think we should use the model that Phairote has proposed. [This would
make us] think like the model of 1997, of which Ajarn Nakharin had said
that it was supported by academic principles. However, if we say that we
do not want a political party of this kind become a parliamentary dictatorship
again, we must distribute the votes on the party list to medium and
small parties. We would need the model that I have proposed. The broad
lines of thinking that we have to decide about are like this, I think. (CDC
39:107)
Krirkkiat then withdrew from further debate in order to save the CDC’s time. Instead,
he wanted to use the CDA debate, which would lead to the final decision, as another
occasion to speak about the models. Somkhit followed straight away by calling the
vote about the two models. This point finally arrived after Praphan Naikowit had
briefly distracted the meeting with an intervention about the regional zones and the
threshold, Chuchai Suphawong had remarked that an election system that could lead
to a “parliamentary dictatorship” “would move in an entirely wrong direction” (ibid.:110),
and after Phairote had made another attempt to get support for establishing a
working group.
CDC secretary Somkhit Lertpaithoon said that he understood that there were
two models.