PM blames budget for failings

PM blames budget for failings
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin

After senators claimed in a general debate on Monday that the Pheu Thai-led coalition has n’t made significant progress toward its campaign promises over the past seven months, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin defended the performance of his government.

Mr. Srettha, who is also the finance minister, acknowledged that the government had to halt the application of some of its main initiatives, particularly those that involve monetary stimulus packages, which require a lot of money.

” The]budget ] bill was only passed last week, and it will take about another month before the budget is disbursed”, he said.

He went on to say that he was n’t entirely satisfied with his performance, as well as the cabinet’s performance, saying there is always room for improvement.

Mr. Srettha responded to criticism over his frequent travels abroad by saying that he thought it was customary for a new prime minister to make a kindness visit to different nations after taking business. He claimed that the visits had no purpose because they had led to significant investments for Thailand, noting that international investors had pledged to invest more than 100 billion baht there over the past few months.

Later on Tuesday, he said, the Thailand Trade Representative and the Board of Investment does release more information.

Senator Seree Suwanpanont criticized Mr. Srettha for portraying himself as a marketer looking for new trade and investment opportunities during the discussion, arguing that the prime minister may be acting as the nation’s CEO rather than a marketer.

According to Mr. Seree, the only accomplishment the government has made so far is preventing a prisoner from serving his or her prison expression, in an ostensible research to the privileges given to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Meanwhile, Senator Somchai Sawangkarn stated that a complaint will soon be submitted to the Constitutional Court asking it to determine whether Mr. Srettha had violated the constitution by assisting Thaksin in getting pardon in an unfair way.

The Senator said the Supreme Court will also be asked to decide whether Thaksin’s request to be at the Police General Hospital for more than 120 times was unlawful.