Move Forward slams govt for allotting opposition just 7 days to study budget bill

The debate of the budget bill has been scheduled for three days from January 3 to 5.

Chaithawat argued that the debate should be postponed by at least a week, as the seven days for opposition MPs to study the bill before the debate is insufficient.

He said a minimum of two weeks should be allotted for opposition members to thoroughly examine the bill before engaging in the debate.

Highlighting historical precedents, Chaithawat recalled that during the previous government tenure, when Pheu Thai was in the opposition, the two-week timeframe provided by the Prayut Chan-o-cha government was considered too short.

“The seven-day period is the shortest in decades and may be the briefest notice in the history of Thai politics,” Chaithawat remarked, adding that the period includes the New Year holidays.

Despite the challenges, Chaithawat said “we’ll do our best”, adding that the government should allocate time for coalition MPs to also debate because the 2024 budget bill was not exclusively prepared by the Pheu Thai-led government.

Instead, he claimed, the coalition had merely reallocated the budget that was initially prepared during the Prayut government.

Typically, budget bills are enacted before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. However, the 2024 budget bill had to be delayed to allow the new government to take office after the May 14 election.