No decision on oil fund: PM

Abhisit says govt policies not in keeping with promises made during election campaign

Prime Minister Yingluck Shina-watra remained non-committal yesterday regarding her controversial election pledge to scrap the Oil Fund, telling Parliament the measure is "not the only solution" to the problem of rising cost of living.

Her brief statement suggested her government might backtrack on the much-criticised policy plan. Parlia-ment, however, heard only that it was not her administration's priority to scrap the Oil Fund, a measure critics say would discourage the use of alternative energy which has only started to gain some ground in Thailand.

"Scrapping the Oil Fund was considered as a measure to combat the rising cost of living which was a very serious problem when this policy was formulated," Yingluck told Parliament. "[As of now] it's not the only solution to the cost of living problem."

The Oil Fund was created in March 1979 to ameliorate the impact of future global oil price increase on the Thai economy. When world oil prices rise, Oil Fund taxes collected earlier are used to minimise upward price adjustments.

Abolishing the Oil Fund would also mean that biofuel gasoline and biodiesel subsidies would also be affected, hampering the government's promotion of alternative energies. Subsidies for liquefied petroleum gas, heavily used for cooking and vehicles throughout the country, would also be affected.

Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday called on the Yingluck government to stick to promises made during the election campaign and give clarity to its policies and their implementation.

He said the people expected the government to solve the high cost of living as a priority. He questioned the Cabinet's policy on amending the Constitution, asking whether it was being rushed in order to help fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Yingluck's deputy, Chalerm Yoobamrung, said it was the opposition's misunderstanding to think that Pheu Thai planned to remove Article 309 from the Constitution - which protects the makers of the 2006 military coup and its effects - to whitewash Thaksin.

"Why did we put forward [the charter amendment] as an urgent agenda? After the September 2006 military coup, our Thai Rak Thai and People Power parties never agreed with the Constitution drafted by those appointed by the coup-makers," he said.

When Chalerm clarified this to the Parliament, Yingluck was not in the chamber. Speaking after Yingluck's two-hour declaration of her Cabinet's policies to Parliament, Democrat leader Abhisit referred to the country's political crisis and said it was necessary that the government restore people's trust in politicians. He cited words and timeframes announced in policies to Parliament that were different to those used by Pheu Thai Party during the election campaign.

"Children are waiting for tablet [PCs]. During the election campaign, they were [to be provided] 'per child'. This should have meant that all children would get the device. But today, policy number 1.15 states: 'begin distributing to Prathom 1 students in primary schools joining pilot projects in academic year 2012'," Abhisit said.

He also questioned the feasibility of the government's policies, and expressed concern that those policies requiring a lot of money would affect the country's financial discipline and stability.

"I'd like the government to state clearly whether it can do [what it said it would do in the election campaign]. Please say that it can do these things, and when they will be done. If it cannot do them at the moment, please make the reasons clear and indicate the time frame so that it is clear for the economic system; so that it can move on," Abhisit said.

Regarding the government's policy to protect the monarchy, Abhisit also asked the government to make clear what it planned to do about people accused of offending the monarchy, and whether they were still involved with the party.

In place of Yingluck, Chalerm said Pheu Thai Party had never promised to voters.

"The same message: if we say it is policy, that's legal. But if we call it a promise, that's a violation of law. Therefore, we never made 'promises'. We only said 'Pheu Thai Party's policies: Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai does, Yingluck is the prime minister.' We did say that," Chalerm said.

"The Pheu Thai Party's idea is that we will change Article 211 [of the Constitution] to open ways for a Constitution Drafting Council. And in detail, we will make it clear that the members must be elected from 77 provinces. [They must come] from an election only," Chalerm said, adding that the government would not interfere in the council's work.

"Constitutional amendments this time will be according to an election [process]. It will contain no hidden agendas. And it will definitely be impossible to remove anyone's misconduct by changing the Constitution," Chalerm said.

Reacting to Chalerm's statement, Abhisit said: "It's good when you said firmly today that there would certainly not be an amnesty and the Charter amendment would not have any amnesty effect. I hope all people in your party agree."

However, Chalerm's reply did not guarantee there would never be any attempt to give amnesty to Thaksin.

"Not a single Constitution can give amnesty. I was talking about just the Constitution and nothing else," he said.

Later, Chalerm announced to the Parliament that the Pheu Thai government would not amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code - the official name of the lese majeste law.