Concern on decrees being delayed
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Top Pheu Thai figures worried that court scrutiny will set back two of four executive decrees by up to a month
Senior figures in the government yesterday expressed concern that the executive decrees authorising borrowing to fund flood-prevention projects would be delayed after the opposition Democrat Party petitioned the Constitution Court to rule on whether they violate the charter.
Coalition whips were engaged in a tense meeting yesterday after a group of Democrat MPs led by former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij petitioned House Speaker Somsak Kiartsuranond, asking him to seek the Constitution Court’s interpretation of whether two of the four emergency decrees endorsed by the Cabinet were constitutional.
The petition, supported by 128 opposition MPs, focused on two of the four decrees: one that would empower the Finance Ministry to borrow Bt350 billion to fund flood-prevention projects, and another that would shift the Bt1.14 trillion public debt incurred during the 1997 financial crisis to the central bank.
Korn said he believed it was unconstitutional for the Cabinet to empower the Finance Ministry to borrow such a large amount of money without careful consideration by the legislature.
Democrat MP Wirat Kalayasiri said the House speaker was expected to forward the opposition MPs’ petition to the court within three days. He said it was likely that the government would have to put its borrowing plan on hold while waiting for a court ruling.
Article 184 of the Constitution states that an emergency decree may be issued for the purpose of maintaining national or public safety or national economic security, or averting a public calamity. Such an emergency decree may be issued only when the Cabinet agrees that an emergency exists, making the measure unavoidable.
Speaking after yesterday’s meeting of coalition whips, senior Pheu Thai figure Surapong Towichukchaikul, who is also the foreign minister, said he was unsure if the House meeting scheduled for tomorrow(Feb 1) to discuss the four executive decrees would proceed in light of the Democrat petition.
“If the Constitution Court agrees to rule on the matter, all the processes will have to stop. We are going to discuss what to do about this,” he said.
Coalition whip Woravat Auapinyakul, who is now a Prime Minister’s Office minister, said the coalition whips were concerned the petition could delay government projects to prevent flooding.
Pheu Thai MP Korkaew Pikulthong, another coalition whip, said he expected the House to debate the two other decrees first, while the two that are the subject of the petition would wait.
“We will wait for the Constitution Court’s verdict. The court is expected to spend no more than one month considering this matter,” he said.
Constitution Court spokesman Pimol Thampithakpong said yesterday that the House Speaker was expected to forward the petition to the court within three days. He declined to predict when the court would announce its interpretation, but said the court normally spent no longer than two months considering such petitions.
Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut yesterday challenged Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong to step down if the court ruled that the decrees were unconstitutional. “The decrees go against the Constitution on many points,” he said.
