Democrats question
The opposition Democrat Party is planning to petition the Constitution Court to rule on the constitutionality of an executive decree requiring the central bank to repay the Bt1.14-trillion debt incurred after the 1997 financial crisis.
The decision was made at a meeting of the party’s “shadow Cabinet” yesterday, the shadow Cabinet’s spokesman, MP Atavit Suwannapakdee, said.
He added that the Democrat’s legal expert MP Wirat Kalayasiri would study the matter and file a petition with the court in two weeks to provide a constitutional interpretation regarding the matter. Wirat said yesterday that he would wait to see the actual text of the decrees before writing the petition.
The spokesman said the shadow Cabinet had resolved to back the government’s plan to raise funds for flood-prevention projects by issuing bonds, but that it would look into the details to see if the projects are appropriate. If not, the opposition party would seek a Constitution Court ruling.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet passed four executive decrees to address public debt and borrow huge amounts to finance post-flood reconstruction projects. It approved an executive decree requiring the Bank of Thailand to pay both the principal and interest of the Bt1.14-trillion debt incurred by the Financial Institutions Development Fund to rescue financial institutions.
