The Democrat Party yesterday renewed its onslaught on the 2-trillion-baht borrowing bill, saying the government is attempting to evade its scrutiny under budgetary laws.
The bill, which would allow the government to borrow up to 2 trillion baht to finance key infrastructure development projects, mostly in the transport sector, is up for its second reading in the House next week.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the opposition disagreed with the borrowing bill because it authorised disbursements of loans and spending that could not be scrutinised.
He slammed what he said was an attempt to link the borrowing bill to rail accidents, saying certain media outlets were suggesting that if the bill was shot down, rail safety would continue to be compromised.
Mr Abhisit said the government could finance rail improvement from the annual budget and the opposition would be ready to support it.
"Funds to repair rail tracks were removed by the government and put in the borrowing bill," the opposition leader said. "So what if I say the government is responsible for rail accidents? The rail repair funds should have been part of the 2014 Budget Bill."
Mr Abhisit said it was likely the government would try to rush deliberation of the bill and warned that any attempts to bar opposition MPs from speaking in the debate would violate the rules of the charter.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to debate the borrowing bill on Thursday and Friday.
Democrat MP for Bangkok Atthawit Suwanphakdi yesterday reiterated the party's call for the government to include the planned loans in the fiscal budget to avoid legal complications.
He said the borrowing bill was important and if it was found to be unconstitutional the government could run into political as well as economic problems.
Mr Atthawit accused the government of trying to avoid regulations and allowing the projects to be procured or invested in using special methods.