Speaker wary of new budget debate

Speaker wary of new budget debate

Chuan fires warning shot as proxy scandal revote nears

Parliament president and House speaker Chuan Leekpai
Parliament president and House speaker Chuan Leekpai

The opposition is free to debate the budget bill again following a Constitutional Court ruling on the status of the legislation although its plan to do so could be called into question, parliament president and House speaker, Chuan Leekpai, has warned.

Mr Chuan said on Tuesday there is no law barring the opposition from re-debating the bill, "But people watching will know what its intentions are," he said.

The Future Forward Party (FFP), however, denied a further debate on the bill would be a tactic aimed at delaying its enactment.

The 3.2-trillion-baht budget bill for the 2020 fiscal year was referred to the Constitutional Court for a ruling on its status after at least two government MPs were found to have voted on the second and third readings of the legislation from Jan 10 to 11 without being in the chamber.

The Constitutional Court ruled last week that the budget bill is partially constitutional and ordered MPs to vote again on the readings after which illegal proxy voting took place.

The revote is scheduled for tomorrow and the session can be extended for as long as is deemed fit.

The opposition has said further debate is also in order and demanded that the House of Representatives allocate enough time for it. The government, however, disagreed and accused the opposition of trying to derail national spending plans.

Mr Chuan said the Jan 10-11 debate had covered all the necessary details and that the MPs had already taken longer than usual to discuss the bill.

"If they want to do the same all over again, they're welcome to," he said.

Mr Chuan explained the Constitutional Court overrides the legal obligation under Section 143 of the charter where the House of Representatives must pass the budget bill within 105 days of the legislation having been taken up for debate.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government and opposition whips will meet to discuss the Constitutional Court's ruling and agree upon what will be done in response to it.

He said the budget bill should be implemented soon because the economy needs money to keep it going.

Meanwhile, FFP secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said the Constitutional Court may have overstepped the mark when it made its ruling.

The court was asked to decide whether the bill should be dropped or left to be enacted in its entirety in light of the proxy voting.

It was not within the court's remit to rule whether the bill was constitutional or not, according to Mr Piyabutr.

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