By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE OFFICE OF the Ombudsman was today (June 8) asked to forward a petition to the Administrative Court to judge whether the Bhumjaithai-led government could legitimately finance the state welfare card project for the poor with any portion of the yet-contentious 400 billion baht borrowed funding currently provided under an executive decree.
The People’s today formally submitted the petition to the Office of the Ombudsman with intent to have the Administrative Court pass a ruling as to whether an estimated 18.8 billion baht supplementary budget to be allocated from the questionable 400 billion baht loan package could legally fund the sustained state welfare card project for the poor under the debatable executive decree which reportedly stipulates that the yet-debatable 400 billion baht in borrowed funding be merely used on basis of emergency or necessity and in relation to national crises such as those caused by world oil price rises.
According to deputy People’s leader/MP Sirikanya Tansakun, the government led by the Bhumjaithai, core of the current coalition under Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, had apparently sought to promote their populist campaign to hand out more money for the poor nationwide at the cost of the country’s established financial and treasury disciplines, thus resulting in a sharp increase in its public debt.
The state welfare card project has been implemented since the last decade in addition to the sustained Copay Plus project, currently renamed the Thai Chuay Thai Plus project with the use of the taxpayer’s money either directly from the government’s annual budget or by way of a hefty loan package as in the case of the Bhumjaithai-led government’s 400 billion baht borrowed funding scheme.
In lieu of the controversial 18.8 billion baht budget for the state welfare card project, the government could otherwise use as much as 50 billion baht in reserve funding in cases of emergency, Sirikanya commented.
The People’s-led opposition has earlier petitioned the Constitutional Court to verify the constitutionality of the controversial 400 billion baht borrowed funding scheme, given the contention that as much as half the total of the loan package would probably be used to finance any government projects which may be by no means related to measures to alleviate the people’s economic woes or deemed otherwise urgent or necessary.
However, Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapat has earlier contended that the 18.8 billion baht supplementary budget for the state welfare card project is being used appropriately and legitimately to address the people’s economic hardships directly caused by the sustained energy crisis.
The Bhumjaithai-led government is quietly seeking financial support primarily from domestic resources to provide lending for their 400 billion baht borrowed funding package.
CAPTIONS:
Top – Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, and deputy People’s leader/MP Sirikanya Tansakun, right. File photos – Amarin TV
Front Page – Deputy People’s leader/MP Sirikanya Tansakun. Photo – PPTVHD36
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