Budget bills key to all the govt's ambitions

Besides the 2014 Budget Bill, which must be worked on, it has the Bt2-trillion loan bill on the table.

Meanwhile, the Bt350-billion budget for water and flood management approved over a year ago is also being eyed by the opposition and the people.

MPs admit a talk by fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra – to present an ultimatum if charter change is opposed by the high court – stirred speculation that political chaos and gridlock might occur if Pheu Thai decides to dissolve the House. But another message Thaksin gave during the same address suggests a different slant.

“I want you [MPs] to join hands. When Pheu Thai and [its] MPs are strong, I have a good chance to return home. If not, I have a slim chance. If I can’t return home, the election campaign will be difficult,” he was quoted as saying by a source, who asked not to be named.

“When the House is in recess, please go and visit local people and explain to them our policies and the budget that we can spend to help them. We are different from other parties. They just stay, but we stay with the power of the people. Once [the people] leave us, we cannot stay. Please be strong and be my moral support. When I receive such support, I will be your moral support too,” he told the MPs.

“Today I am still swimming in the sea. We have to communicate clearly, so everybody knows that we have fought for a long time, and what the fight is for,” he was quoted as saying by the source.

Thaksin asked the MPs to support speeding up the amnesty bill and told them to show all sides that the government supports it too.

Thaksin’s statement revealed how he sees the importance of the money – and its expenditure – to the government. But he still wants to keep supporters’ trust by showing the party keeps campaign promises by pushing legislation.

An ad-hoc committee led by Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong is deliberating details of the Bt2-trillion bill for seven years of investment – and in a bid to build trust, Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt, as a committee member, has vowed to abort any project plagued with corruption.

Nevertheless, the availability of the huge fund for the mega projects still more or less relies on the progress of the Bt350-billion water and flood management scheme. 

Utain Shartpinyo, former chairman of the committee on water drainage to the sea, who has a close link to Pheu Thai Party, has come out as a whistle-blower, spotting irregularities in the water and flood management projects. 

The construction has not really started, as the process to select successful bidders is scheduled to be completed by June. 

However, the Royal Irrigation Department director-general has also told The Nation that at least 16 out of 28 dam construction projects could not be finished within the five-year deadline. 

The progress or failure of this mega project is important to the government, especially as many people compare it to the Bt2-trillion loan – the even more enormous borrowing project plan, which the opposition is trying to discredit by using the water management project as an example.

Pheu Thai Party and the government can put charter amendment, the amnesty bill, “reconciliation” bill or any other controversial law that might cause political rifts in society on hold. If it can get and manage the budget, it will be able to please supporters in general. Then it can take care of political sentiment and continue to hold a position of advantage.