House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha says he expects the first reading of the 2024 budget bill to go smoothly on Wednesday.
The coalition and opposition parties have each been allotted 20 hours of speaking time for the three-day debate, which is scheduled to conclude on Friday.
The budget for fiscal 2024 calls for spending of 3.48 trillion baht with a deficit of 693 billion, up from 593 billion approved by the previous government before the May 14 election was called.
The fiscal year began on Oct 1, 2023 but the new budget has still not been passed because of the protracted delay in forming the government following the elections. It is not expected to take effect until early May, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said last month.
Mr Wan said he had no concern that this week’s debate would be hijacked by attempts to censure the government over other matters, as getting the budget passed is of utmost importance for supporters of all parties.
Asked if parliament would be open for a discussion about convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Mr Wan said that unless it concerns budget issues, the matter must wait.
“Parliament has changed a lot nowadays. There are not so many redundant interjections by party members and everyone knows the regulations and is focussed on carrying out their duties,” he said.
The bill should, in principle, be passed by 10pm on Friday. Afterwards, a House committee will have up to 105 days to vet the bill.
Mr Wan said this was a new era for Thai politics, in which MPs can be scrutinised more easily and bribery is less likely due to the risk of any backhanders being exposed on social media.
Pakornwut Udompipatskul, a Move Forward Party list MP and opposition chief whip, invited officials from the Finance Ministry, Budget Bureau and National Economic and Social Development Council to agree on the rules of the debate at a meeting on Tuesday.
Regarding the request for no discussion about Thaksin, he said all MPs are aware of when the proper time to bring up the matter will be
Move Forward, he said, was preparing to ask about the breakdown of the expenditure, as the government has been claiming that the economy is in crisis.
Yet, despite claiming to need to borrow 500 billion baht to fund its digital wallet stimulus scheme, the budget allocations are not much different from those of the previous Prayut Chan-o-cha government, he observed.
Mr Pakornwut said the budget seemed not to reflect an attempt to tackle the pressing problems the nation faces, such as economic and environmental challenges, inequality and low fertility rates.
The Parliamentary Budget Office has published an analysis of the 2024 budget (Thai only) on its website.
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