Top court to review decrees

The Constitution Court yesterday decided to review the legal status of two executive decrees the Yingluck government has sought to impose.

Court spokesman Pimol Thampithakpong said judges had decided to consider the status of a decree allowing the government to obtain Bt350 billion worth of loans for water resource management.

They would also consider the constitutional legality of a second emergency decree permitting the government to transfer Bt1.14-trillion in public debt to the Bank of Thailand.

Petitions seeking a judicial review of the decrees were filed by a group of senators and opposition MPs in the Democrat Party. The two decrees will be considered as one case.

Pimol said the court required Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij and Senator Khamnoon Sitthisamarn, who represent the Democrats and senators who filed the complaints respectively, to submit written opinions to the court by Friday.

Pimol said Korn, Khamnoon and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra or their representatives will be required to testify to the court from 9am on February 15.

Pimol said the court would need about 30 days to consider the two decrees. But he noted that even if the court were to rule that the two decrees were unconstitutional, such a ruling would not have a retroactive affect on actions already taken by the government.

The spokesman said he also thought the government would not obtain loans before the court makes a ruling on the two decrees.

Yingluck said yesterday the Cabinet had agreed to let her deputy and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong testify to the court, as she was scheduled to make a visit to the provinces on February 15. She insisted the government was willing to give information on the decrees.

"The government will work on solving problems related to flooding in the meantime although it has not gained the money [yet]. We have to do our best. The government must certainly have a plan on use of the money. But money and confidence are crucial factors in implementing the rehabilitation work," she said.

In regard to the opposition's request for the government to clarify its plan on use of the money, the PM said: "We are already doing that, we are clarifying the plan. But sometimes when you say 'clear' and 'detail' you have to see how clear it is. The main plan is already clear. We know what to do. But it will take time for us to give the details. We have the plan and we will work with the locals. Sometimes we have to transfer the information from the Strategic Committee for Water Resources Management to the locals to make sure they agree on the same things."

She said the Bt350 billion in loans would not be wasted, as it would be spent on solving problems and rehabilitation of damage. It would also stimulate the economy.

Korn, the former finance minister, said the opposition was not obstructing the government's work in solving water-related problems, because, although the court had accepted the case, the government could still continue the work.