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Published on February 17, 2008

"The NLA should be neutral and will bring up information in such a way as to maximise the country's interest," NLA Speaker Meechai Ruchuphan said yesterday. Following the delivery to Parliament of the national policy statement by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, the debate is set to run three days and will be covered live on TV Channel 11 from 9.30am-11pm.

Meechai said that as appointed lawmakers, it was inappropriate for NLA members to touch on partisan issues like the government and opposition MPs do. They should speak clearly and concisely in order to observe the time limit of five to 10 minutes per person, he said.

The NLA - currently acting as the Senate - will highlight recommendations advanced by its various committees, he added.

For example, the members of the NLA transportation committee might call attention to a key proposal to open bidding for the concession to operate a shopping centre on state property in Lat Phrao instead of granting an outright contract extension to the Central Group. In regards to the 2008 budget, the NLA finance committee might urge the government to continue running a deficit to jolt the slumbering economy, he said.

Each of the 24 NLA panels has been allocated about 20 minutes of floor time.

Opposition whip Sathit Wongnongtoey said he was trying to schedule about 80 Democrat MPs to join the policy debate. "The shadow ministers will be granted priority to speak from the floor," he said.

Opposition MPs will critique the policies from four angles - the state policies as prescribed by the 2007 Constitution, discrepancies with campaign platforms, implementation and assessment - he said. House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat needs to maintain order throughout, he said, adding that government MPs should not be allowed to disrupt the opposition speeches.

The Nation