House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranon yesterday agreed to include the opposition's censure motion on the House agenda, easing a standoff with the Democrat Party which accused him of aiding the government.
Last Friday the Democrats submitted a motion for a no-confidence debate against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan. The party also submitted a petition seeking the removal of Ms Yingluck, Mr Charupong and Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi from office.
Mr Somsak, however, initially refused to include the motion on the House agenda.
He argued that the no-confidence motion lacked sufficiently detailed documentation of their alleged wrongdoings.
The Democrats insist the motion is complete and have accused Mr Somsak of trying to prevent them from seeking justice. The opposition believes the government is demanding the documentation to help Ms Yingluck and Mr Charupong defend themselves in the debate.
Mr Somsak yesterday reiterated that the Democrat Party must present an accompanying impeachment motion by Monday. The motion must include details of all the allegations, he said.
The censure debate cannot be approved without the details of the impeachment motion, he added.
Mr Somsak said it is the duty of the government and opposition whips to set the date for the censure debate, but the debate must take place before Thursday, which is the last day of the parliamentary session.
Observers have noted that once the no-confidence motion is put on the House agenda, the prime minister cannot use her authority to dissolve the House until the censure debate has ended and a no-confidence vote is taken.
Chief government whip Amnuay Khlangpha said the censure debate is expected to last only one day as the debate will focus solely on Ms Yingluck and Mr Charupong.
Chief opposition whip Jurin Laksanavisit said the opposition needed three days to grill the government.
Mr Jurin said the government should not employ tactics to obstruct the censure debate.
Meanwhile, a group of senators led by Kamnoon Sitthisamarn and Rosana Tositrakul yesterday filed a petition seeking a Constitution Court ruling on the legality of the 2-trillion-baht borrowing bill. The petition was signed by 55 senators and 11 Democrat MPs.
They submitted the petition to House Speaker Somsak to forward to the charter court.
The opposition on Wednesday also submitted a separate petition against the bill to the court.
They hope the petitions will prevent Ms Yingluck from submitting the bill for royal endorsement, until a court ruling is delivered. The bill's opponents said the scale of the borrowing, which falls outside the parameters of the normal budget, is unlawful.
The Senate passed the third and final reading of the borrowing bill on Wednesday.