Senators critical of curbs on legislative scrutiny

On the second day of the parliamentary debate on the charter amendment bill related to the framework for international agreements, the opposition attacked what they saw as the weakening of the legislature.
Senator Porapan Punyaratabandhu said the amendment, if passed, would allow the government to bypass Parliament in negotiating deals despite severe economic and budgetary impacts. In future, deals, such as those done under the Bt2-trillion loan bill, could not be vetted by the legislature, she said.
She also voiced suspicion that the vague wording on targeting any agreements related to territorial integrity would inhibit legislative checks.
The amended clause prescribes for checks “only” on those agreements with “clear” impact on sovereignty and the government interpreted what was clear or not clear in its favour, she said.
Speaking in the government’s defence, Pheu Thai MP Kokaew Pikulthong said the proposed amendment was not designed to weaken the legislature but to reduce its workload.
The opposition had no justification or evidence to attack the draft bill, he said. Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had no vested interest in the oil and gas exploration in the Thai-Cambodian maritime overlapping area as alleged by the opposition, he said. In a separate development, the Constitutional Court has accepted an additional petition questioning charter amendment related to senator qualifications and election. The earlier petition said some parliamentarians had used their colleagues’ identification cards during a parliamentary meeting. Court spokesman Pimol Thampitakpong said the court accepted to consider the additional information and video clip submitted by senator Somjed Boontanom.
Pimol said the court also agreed to consider the additional information that the charter change bill with the Parliament Speaker was different from that with parliamentarians during the first reading of the bill.