Pheu Thai lines up 70 MPs for debate on budget

Seventy Pheu Thai Party MPs will be defending the government during the upcoming House debate on the government's budget, Pheu Thai Party spokesperson Jirayu Huangsap said yesterday.

Preparations for the debate, scheduled for three days from Wednesday to Friday, will be discussed by the Pheu Thai Party on Tuesday. The party's strategic committee will allow ample time for its 70 selected MPs to defend the government's budget. The MPs will also be divided into three groups comprising about five MPs each to be overseen by three persons, including Jirayu. The other two are Paijit Sriworakan, Nakhon Phanom MP for the party, and

Sunai Chulapongsatorn, a party-list MP.

The three will take turns to be on duty in Parliament, said Jirayu, to monitor and protest if necessary and to ensure that Opposition MPs do not raise related issues such as that of ousted and fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Opposition Democrat Party MP for Trang province Satit Wongnongtoey, meanwhile, said the party would concentrate the attacks on three issues:

_ The government's rice-price guarantee scheme and the fund established to aid the task;

_ the government's failure to manage its budget to shore up prices of various agricultural produces and keep prices of basic commodities from spiralling;

_ nepotism and irregularity in the allocation of some of the budget money such as the Bt900 million given to the Office of Secretary to the Prime Minister, which contains no details on how it will be spent.

"The party is ready for the debate and believes the three days allocated would suffice," said Sathit. "About 100 [MPs] will address the House. As for the Pheu Thai spokesperson urging the Opposition to stick to the topic, the government should not be too cowardly. It should remain alert. The Democrats will stick to the topic of the debate."