By Thai Newsroom Reporters
AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Gen-Z adolescents have been found to prefer there be no more unelected senators who would only stand in the way of democratic rule, according to a recent poll.
The opinion poll conducted earlier this month among a total of 707 university students by Rangsit University political scientist Thamrongsak Petlert-anand has found 85.5% of the respondents preferring there be no more senators as had been the case of those handpicked by the 2014 coup junta under leadership of army chief-turned-Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The overwhelming 85.5% of the Gen-Z respondents who were opposed to the junta-appointed senators compared to 5.1% who preferred the unelected legislators whilst 9.4% declined to give a response.
Those who prefer there no longer be unelected senators say they agree to the democratic principles of having all MPs and senators voted by the people and represent the people at parliament.
The large majority of the Gen-Z respondents say neither caretaker prime minister-cum-Palang Pracharath party leader Prawit Wongsuwan nor Prayut who is currently suspended by court from performing as head of government is considered the type of democratic-minded leader whom they might otherwise prefer to see continuing to run the country.
The Rangsit poll conducted among university students aged between 18 and 25 years in all regions of the country apparently followed recurring failures of parties to put an end to the constitutional power of the junta-appointed senators to join ranks with elected MPs in the voting for head of a post-election government.
Motions lodged at parliament in pursuit of amendment to the military-designed constitution to abolish such undemocratic powers of the senators have been aborted over the last few years.
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Top: Gen-Z students. Photo: Thai Rath
Front Page: Nighttime view of Democracy Monument. Photo: Mark Fischer (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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