Prasit Attacks Government for Bundling Loans Into Single Decree, Claims It's Dodging Parliament Oversight; Vows to File for Special Committee Investigation

Prasit accuses the government of opportunistically combining loans into a single decree as a tactic to pressure the opposition into criticizing relief efforts. He claims the government is deliberately evading parliamentary oversight, which he describes as a "parliamentary escape" phenomenon. He announced the Democratic Party will file an urgent motion on Thursday, May 14, to establish a special committee to investigate the loan's implementation, stating there is no valid reason to refuse its establishment.

At 9:45 a.m. on May 12, 2025, at Parliament, Prasit Watchrasindhū, a list MP and Democratic Party spokesman, discussed the opposition's petition to the Constitutional Court concerning the government's 400-billion-baht emergency decree for Middle East crisis relief. Prasit stated their petition clearly targets the 200-billion-baht portion related to energy transition projects, which they have separated distinctly for the court.

However, Prasit expressed concern that the government is acting indirectly to evade parliamentary scrutiny, which he characterizes as "parliamentary escape." The first method, according to Prasit, is the government's deliberate bundling of two loan tranches into a single decree, forcing the opposition to simultaneously address both funds, thereby limiting their ability to oppose one while accepting the other.

While the opposition's petition to the Constitutional Court clearly separates the two tranches, Prasit argued the government's intention in combining them is evident—exploiting public hardship to use relief funds as cover for advancing energy projects while bypassing parliamentary oversight through emergency decree mechanisms.

"I ask in return: if what I say is untrue and the government is not trying to use relief funds as cover or smuggle energy projects into this decree, why combine them into one? Why not include the 200-billion-baht portion in the regular budget? If they claim it cannot go through normal budgeting, they could issue a separate loan decree instead. But combining them is a concrete example of parliamentary escape through fund bundling," Prasit stated.

Prasit noted a second concern, though it hasn't materialized yet. The Democratic Party will file a motion on May 14 to establish a special oversight committee to monitor the decree's fund usage. Even though the petition goes to the Constitutional Court, the decree is already enforceable and the government has confirmed it will proceed with spending. Therefore, having a parliamentary special committee to ensure transparency in fund usage is appropriate, similar to the special committees established during the COVID-19 emergency loan decrees.

When asked whether regular budget oversight committees could fulfill this role, Prasit clarified that regular committees track overall budget implementation without specifically targeting individual decrees. He noted that special committees have been established for every emergency loan decree. He expressed hope that government MPs will cooperate rather than use their majority to block the investigation, stating there is no justification for refusing to establish such a committee.