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Published on February 9, 2008

There will be a general debate following the policy address by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej but the House will not vote on the matter.

Jakrapob said the Cabinet will review the final draft of government policies on Tuesday before forwarding copies to government and opposition MPs to study ahead of the session.

Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat is the chairman of the policy drafting committee and convened yesterday's meeting to rewrite the initial draft adopted by the six coalition parties.

He said the initial draft would form the core policies incorporating various campaign pledges.

The coalition's platforms would be augmented by proposals from top bureaucrats, including those from the Council of State, the National Security Council and the National Economic and Social Development Board, he said.

The drafting process is expected to be completed today.

"Government policies are designed to meet the people's aspirations," he said, shrugging off the label of "populist policies".

"These are people-oriented policies and the name is not important," he said, voicing confidence the government would be able to resolve economic problems facing people at the grass-roots as well as

the entire nation.

The Nation