Thai amends constitution for smooth polls

Thailand's parliament yesterday approved constitutional amendments that the prime minister had set as a condition for early elections, as protesters gathered in Bangkok to demand his resignation.
The legislation, approved by 347 to 37 votes, includes a switch to a single-seat constituency system from multiple seats, and an increase in the number of lawmakers elected through party-list proportional representation.
Under the new system, there will be 375 constituency-based members of parliament and 125 from party lists.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said the amendments to the charter -- introduced following a 2006 coup and approved in a referendum the following year -- are necessary before parliament can be dissolved for snap polls.
Abhisit said Wednesday he would call a vote in the first half of this year if there was no fresh political violence.
The British-born, Oxford-educated head of the establishment Democrat Party, who came to power in 2008 through a parliamentary vote, must call an election by the end of this year, when his term finishes.
Mass protests in April and May of last year by the "Red Shirt" movement, which is broadly loyal to fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, left 90 people dead in street clashes between demonstrators and the army.
The Reds, who where campaigning for immediate elections, have held a series of peaceful one-day rallies in the capital in recent weeks.