Leading opposition figure Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit was selected on Wednesday as one of the advisors to a vetting committee to scrutinise the budget bill before it returns to Parliament.
In its first meeting, the 72-member House committee paved the way for the former leader of the dissolved Future Forward Party to return to Parliament for the first time since he was disqualified as an MP for holding shares in a media company when he applied to become a representative.
The panel picked Mr Thanathorn, who leads the Progressive Movement, as one of seven advisors to the committee set up to audit the 3.3 trillion baht budget bill that passed the first reading in the Lower House on Friday. Finance Minister Uttama Savayana was chosen as committee chairman.
Mr Thanathorn re-entered the House of Representatives to sit on the committee under the quota of the Move Forward Party. Some Palang Pracharath members and senators opposed his presence, arguing he should not be allowed back because of his disqualification as an MP and a 10-year ban from politics.