Coalition survives first House test

The meeting, chaired by House Speaker Chai Chidchob, began in the afternoon.

Shortly after 20 new MPs, who won the recent by-elections, made their vows of duty, opposition MPs asked the House speaker to explain why he called a parliamentary meeting outside of Parliament on Dec 30 to allow Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to deliver his government's policy statement.

Opposition MPs boycotted the Dec 30 meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that how the meeting was called went against the parliamentary regulations.

After over an hour into Wednesday's meeting, Pheu Thai MP Jumpot Bunyai asked the speaker to call a quorum. Many of government MPs were outside the meeting room while several of them were attending House committee meetings elsewhere in the Parliament building.

The House speaker spent almost five minutes ringing the bell to call a quorum count, which was done with MPs inserting their cards into the slots near where they are seated.

There were 235 MPs in the meeting room, just seven more than the required quorum of 228.

After the quorum count, opposition MPs went on criticising the government's alleged lack of legitimacy in running the country, and the speaker's role in calling the parliamentary meeting outside of Parliament. 

Government MPs, particularly those from the Democrat Party, then protested and reminded the opposition MPs that the meeting Wednesday involved the budget bill.

Another quorum call slightly over half an hour after the first one showed there were 233 MPs in the meeting chamber, five more than the required quorum.