EGAT COURT RULING
PM wants time to mull verdict
More than 2,000 pro-government villagers from the provinces gather at Hua Lamphong railway station yesterday before moving to the Election Commission’s head office to offer encouragement to its officials ahead of the April 2 general election.
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Responding to the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling that killed the government's attempt to privatise Egat Plc (formerly the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand), Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said yesterday he respected the court's decision but would need to see what the verdict said in detail.
Asked how the ruling would affect the government's policy on the privatisation of state-enterprise agencies in the future, Thaksin said: "We need to look into what the court feels uneasy about. And we will need to measure consumers' understanding of the privatisation issue. "Then we have to make the consumers understand the objectives of the privatisation, and if the people understand it and feel happy with it, we will proceed with our policy, but if they understand it but still feel uneasy about, we will stop. That's all. "Because the government is supposed to serve the people, if the people feel uneasy about our policy or disagree with it, then we stop. That's the principle," he said. Meanwhile, PM's Secretary-General Prommin Lertsuridej said he needed to study the verdict before commenting on it. "There could be differing opinions when it comes to legal interpretation on certain aspects of the matter," he added. Asked how the caretaker government would show its responsibility for such a hostile ruling against the government's two royal decrees endorsing the Egat privatisation, Prommin said the government had acted legitimately in issuing both decrees. Caretaker Energy Minister Viset Choopiban said yesterday that Egat would have to discuss with the Council of State, the government's legal advisory body, on how to conform to the court ruling. "The Energy Ministry will not make any new moves concerning the privatisation. It's the new government who would make the decision," he said. Viset said Egat would need to formulate a new funding plan now that it has reverted to state enterprise status. While it would resume the ownership of dams nation-wide, Egat would need to buy back shares from employees. He also asserted that the ruling has nothing to do with PTT Plc or the Electricity Regulatory Board, which is set up to oversee the entire energy sector.
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