BANGKOK -- Thailand's Constitutional Court said on Wednesday that the current formula for allotting parliamentary seats does not contradict the constitution, a loss for small parties aligned with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha who hoped to shift the odds in the general election next year.
That would keep the threshold of votes that parties must win to around 350,000 to receive party-list seats. Only a handful of parties can muster those numbers, which means fewer competitors for 100 party-list seats, giving the advantage to popular parties like the opposition Pheu Thai.
