Govt okay with moving it forward

The censure debate may be brought forward by a week and held on Thursday and Friday with the vote of confidence being cast on the following day, chief coalition whip Chinnaworn Boonyakiart said yesterday.

"The government is ready for the censure and will suggest that the debate be held this week," he said.

Chinnaworn said the opposition was willing to bring the grilling forward from the original date, which was March 25. He said the coalition and the opposition had agreed to give the confidence motion top priority and would have it take place as soon as legal checks related to the motion have been completed.

He added that neither the PM nor the Cabinet members targeted had any objections to expediting the motion. He said coalition parties would not assign any lawmakers to "protect" the censure targets and that each Cabinet member would rebut the charges directly. The Democrats have set up a 10-member fact-finding panel to help lawmakers prepare their rebuttals, he said.

Coalition whip Kiartikorn Pakpiansilp said he and the other whips were worried that the votes of confidence would not be cast evenly for each target and hence send the wrong signal for coalition unity.

Kiartikorn said Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya might be the weakest in term of votes of confidence, since several Democrats had reservations about supporting him due to his links with the People's Alliance for Democracy.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said if the grilling was moved forward, he would have to reschedule his inspection trip to Chon Buri. The rescheduling relies on the consent of the House Speaker, as it is not a matter for the government to consider, he said.

"I understand that the House might have problems holding the grilling next week as previously planned," he said, adding that bringing it forward would not affect the preparations on either side.

Chief opposition whip Withaya Buranasiri said the coalition wanted to bring the debate forward because it feared the opposition would uncover more damning evidence if given more time. He said the opposition was ready to censure the government and that Pheu Thai MP Chalerm Yoobamrung would lead the debate as well as act as a debate coach.

He called on House Speaker Chai Chidchob to have the grilling last two full days, noting that the other meetings schedule for Friday afternoon at the House might have to be moved or rescheduled.