Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday expressed his opposition to the coalition whips' idea to forgo live broadcasts of this week's resumed House of Representatives debate on the 2011 Budget Bill.
The coalition whips came up with the ban yesterday after many opposition MPs last week used the live broadcasts to censure the government rather than focus on the budget, chief coalition whip Witthaya Kaewparadai said.
The opposition Pheu Thai Party threatened to boycott the budget debate if it was not broadcast and described the coalition whips' move as an attempt to "close the people's ears and eyes".
Abhisit said he told the coalition whips of his disagreement with their idea. To deal with the problem, the meeting chairmen should be stricter with MPs who debate on the second and third readings of the Budget Bill, he said.
"Those MPs must be told to stop their debate beyond the topic while there is no broadcast. It's best to have a live broadcast ensuring the MPs keep their debate within the topic," the prime minister said.
He said the time of debate should be fairly allocated between opposition and coalition MPs.
"It's not easy to manage the time, as some MPs want to speak longer than their given duration. I think if opposition MPs were allowed to exercise that right, the same right should also be given to coalition MPs. I don't think it's fair to be strict with coalition MPs while allowing opposition MPs to stray freely from the topic," Abhisit said.
House Speaker Chai Chidchob and his two deputies, Apiwan Wiriyachai and Samart Kaewmeechai, who are both from Pheu Thai, took turns to chair last week's debate last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Apiwan heavily attacked the government while addressing the recent protests by the red shirts.
Chief coalition whip Witthaya, who is a senior Democrat MP, said the opposition whips failed to ensure the opposition MPs completed their debate within the earlier agreed duration.
He said last week's budget debate lasted 46 hours and 45 minutes. Of that, opposition MPs took the floor for 24 hours and five minutes, coalition MPs for three hours, vetting committee members and Cabinet members for three hours and 54 minutes, and five hours and 46 minutes was spent on protests and discussions with the meeting chairmen.
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai MP Suchart Lainam-ngoen, an opposition whip, said he would ask his party to boycott the budget debate if there were no live broadcast. "No broadcast is tantamount to closing the ears and eyes of the people," he said.
Witthaya said it would be the government that would stand to lose in forgoing live broadcasts. He added that alternative media, such as satellite-based TV channels and websites, also offered live broadcasts of the debate.