Thai ruling party: Bt2.2-trillion loan bill doesn’t violate Constitution

BANGKOK, September 22 (TNA) - The ruling Pheu Thai Party has insisted that the 2.2 trillion baht infrastructure development loan bill which sailed through the House of Representatives comfortably late Friday does not violate the Constitution. Pheu Thai Party Spokesman Prompong Nopparit said on Sunday that the party’s legal experts had already checked whether the 2.2 trillion loan bill violated the Constitution as suggested by the opposition Democrat Party and found out that the bill was within the legal framework of the charter. His comments were made after the Democrat Party said it would ask the Constitutional Court to interpret whether the bill breaches the Constitution. Meanwhile, the Democrat Party will unveil a programme so called the ‘Thai Khem Khaeng 2020’ on Monday in an attempt to challenge the infrastructure development programme. Democrat Party Spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said his party would use the ‘Thai Khem Khaeng 2020’ programme as Thailand’s development model if the party is elected a government again. The programme is a new version of the 1.4 trillion baht Thai Khem Khaeng programme that the previous government led by the Democrat Party under prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva implemented in 2009 with the goal of supporting recovery amid a global recession. (TNA)