A constitutional expert and academic yesterday slammed the caretaker Cabinet's plan to call bids for three mass-transit lines, saying it did not have the legitimacy to approve big-budget projects.

Kanin Boonsuwan, an expert on the Constitution, called the plan to proceed with the three mass-transit lines "illegal", because the caretaker government was not entitled to approve investments that require budget-binding obligations. "It runs against the Constitution's intention to have the budget approval screened by the democratic process," he said.

"The Constitution makes it clear that the caretaker government should not approve projects that would bind fiscal spending for several years to come," Kanin said, "because we don't have the House to debate the merit of the projects."

Caretaker Premier Thaksin Shinawatra chaired the Cabinet's weekly meeting for the first time since stepping aside six weeks ago.

Caretaker Transport Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, said after the Cabinet had resolved to withdraw the three mass transit lines and the purchase of 2,000 natural-gas buses for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority from the "mega-project" scheme, and make them projects needing "urgent execution". This would pave the way for the caretaker government to proceed with their implementation while other mega-projects would be up to the new government to decide.

"With the problem of rising oil prices, if we let these three projects be suspended until the new government, our economy will face serious problems. Therefore, we need to accelerate the execution of projects that already have a source of funding," Pongsak said.

The Transport Ministry would submit the details to Cabinet next week. Pongsak said it planned for international bids for the projects.

The three lines are Red, a connecting airport link to Don Muang and Chiang Rak; Blue, an outer ring line to Bang Khae; and Purple, which will connect Bang Sue to Bang Yai.

The Cabinet's decision was made before Bangkok administrators are due to approve extensions of the Skytrain lines, today.

Sompop Manarungsan, an economics lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, said the timing was not right for the caretaker government to start the three mass-transit lines.

"The problem of government legitimacy would increase the costs. Investors would be reluctant to invest due to the continuing uncertainty," he said.

If bids were opened now, investors could ask for a higher rate of return from the government to compensate for future political risks, since the projects would be long-term investments, Sompop said. He felt the caretaker government was aiming to boost its popularity.

"The caretaker government should wait another few months until the new government is formed, he said. "If the projects start now it would not benefit the economy as expected due to conflicts that may arise from the absence of government legitimacy."

He questioned why the Cabinet had to rush approval of the projects now, when it should have executed them years ago when interest rates were still low. "The caretaker government will face difficulty in both political and financial management during high political uncertainty and high interest rates - if they go ahead with the projects now."

Korn Chatikavanij, a deputy Democrat Party leader, questioned the Cabinet's move. "I think it's politically motivated.

The government has failed to explain why they picked the three routes out of the 10 routes planned, nor the source of funding for the projects that require budget obligations for several years," he said.

Korn said if the government was serious about mass transport, it should support the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's plan to extend the three BTS Skytrain routes.

"I think the decision to go ahead with the three lines only aims to score political points," he said.

Jeerawat Na Thalang,

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation