PUBLISHED : 11 Jan 2024 at 04:39
House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha on Wednesday promised to form a joint committee to work on agenda issues after the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) accused the coalition of attempting to push a clean air bill without the prime minister’s signature.
Mr Wan said that despite the coalition not having submitted the bill just yet, he will work on the issue with both the coalition and the opposition.
He also suggested the House use a committee just in case the bill’s details were unclear.
A reading of the finished clean air bill will be made an emergency agenda item today. Four other bills are also on the House’s agenda today.
However, as the coalition is the one proposing to put the bill on the House’s agenda, Nutthawut Buaprathum, an MFP list MP, questioned why the coalition proposed putting the Clean Air bill on the agenda before it was signed off by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Natthawut posted on X (formerly Twitter) that his party had proposed the bill, as well as six other related bills, including those on cross-border pollution, for government approval.
Rangsiman Rome, another MFP lawmaker, also questioned the coalition’s actions.
In the coalition’s defence, Kroomanit Sangpoom, Pheu Thai MP for Surin, said it was difficult getting the premier’s approval of the bill immediately, as a study and more reading were needed.
He promised to contact the government about approving the bill, saying that the coalition wanted the bill approved the way the opposition wanted.
A government source said that Mr Srettha gave the bill the green light on Tuesday, adding that the Council of State had finished its scrutiny of the bill.
He then took a trip to Chiang Mai for two days to inspect the air pollution situation in the province.
The bill aims to develop a systematic pollution management system that tackles pollution sources directly, as well as an air quality assessment platform that is more effective for users.