People’s party lines up 20 MPs to press government on key failures

The opposition People’s party is set to grill Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul over his government’s handling of the current oil crisis, public disasters and PM2.5 air pollution during the three-day debate following the prime minister’s delivery of the government’s policy statement on Thursday.

Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut said today that they have assigned about 20 MPs to take part in the debate covering various issues. He assured that there will not be repetitive debate as each group of MPs will focus on different issues.

Under the theme of ‘enough is enough’, he said that the People’s party will try to bring the grievances of the people to the government’s attention and remind it of the unresolved and long-standing problems.

After having studied the government’s policy statement, Natthaphong said he feels that the government simply bundled together the policies of all its coalition partners which, by itself, is insufficient.

What is needed, he said, is the force to actually implement the policies, which is possible only when there is mutual trust and cooperation between all coalition parties, the public and the private sector.

Even if several technocrats and knowledgeable individuals were recruited into the Cabinet, Natthaphong said that the lineup is heavily influenced by a quota system and vested interests, which may lead to conflicts of interests and a setback to attempts to contain corruption.

He went on to say that the People’s party will perform its duties as the opposition to its utmost and in a straightforward manner.

Sophon Zaram, president of the parliament, called a meeting today with representatives of the government, the opposition, the Senate and the Cabinet to discuss the allocation of time for the debate.

The debate will take a total of 32 hours over three days to be allocated as follows:

- One and a half hours for the prime minister to deliver the policy statement

- Six hours for the Cabinet

- Four hours for the Senate

- Five and a half hours for government parties

- Fourteen and a half hours for the opposition

Atthakorn Sirilatthayakorn, Chachoengsao MP of the Kla Tham party, said that they have been allocated 3-4 hours for the debate, as he offered his assurance that the party will not be pulling any punches.