HOUSE Speaker and Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said the joint parliamentary session for the delivery of the Pheu Thai-led coalition government’s policy statement and ensuing debate will take place next Monday and Tuesday (Sep. 11-12), Matichon newspaper said.
This followed a meeting with government, Senate and opposition whips and also attended by representatives from the government, the Senate and opposition parties where it was agreed that the two-day session would stretch for 30 hours.
This is to be divided into one hour for the Parliament President, five hours for the cabinet to deliver its policy statement and give explanations, five hours for senators, five hours for government MPs and 14 hours for opposition MPs.
Although it is expected that the joint session will end late the first day, this would probably be no later than midnight while the second day it would end by 11 p.m. even though some lawmakers wanted it to end at 9 p.m.
As there is a cabinet meeting the next day Wednesday Sep. 13 and to ensure quality debate all sides were told to prepare good content and make it as useful as possible.
Asked if the opposition would use the debate to interrogate the government, Wan Noor said the opposition parties had confirmed that they would stick to the framework of the policy statement and the possibility of implementing the policies without turning it into a no-confidence debate.
Asked if security is going to be stepped up as some protesters might show up, Wan Noor replied that he did not expect demonstrators to stage rallies over the two-day session as all sides wanted this to proceed smoothly.
He added that Parliament does not shun supporters who might show but as this debate is stretching over two days doing so would waste their time and money.
CAPTIONS:
Top: House Speaker and Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Mattha, left, and the Parliament meeting chamber, right. Photo: Matichon
Front Page: House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha at Parliament on August 4, 2023. Photo: Thai Rath
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