[JURIST] Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn [BBC profile] signed a military-backed constitution [PDF, in Thai] into law on Thursday. The new constitution installs an electoral system for selecting the 500 members of Thailand’s parliament. In this system, the Thai people will vote for one of 350 candidates. Those votes are than added together to determine which political parties will gain the remaining 150 seats. The system was adopted in the hopes that it would increase the number of seats held by medium-size parties and prevent government take over by historically large and powerful parties. The constitution also creates an un-elected upper house of parliament comprised of 250 seats. These seats will be filled at the discretion of Thailand’s military. The constitution also grants Vajiralongkorn the power to appoint his own regent for when he is out of the country or in times of political crisis. The constitution has been met with numerous protests [Reuters report] in southern Thailand.

The new constitution comes after a decade of political turbulence [BBC backgrounder] in Thailand. Following the 2006 coup, the Thai people approved a new constitution. By 2008, a democratic general election returned Thailand to civilian rule. However, by September of that year, mass public unrest broke out around the country and the recently elected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was forced out of office by Thailand’s Constitutional Court. General unrest continued in the country until 2014 when the military staged another coup. The country remained under martial law until 2016, and, in 2016, voters approved the current constitution in a referendum vote. Although the new constitution is in place, election dates have not yet been determined. The constitution is Thailand’s 20th since 1932.