The People's Party-Democrat Party has filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to interpret whether the emergency decree authorizing the 4 billion baht loan violates the Constitution.

The People's Party-Democrat Party has filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to interpret whether the emergency decree authorizing the 4 billion baht loan violates Article 172 of the Constitution. They also requested a suspension of the use of the 2 billion baht loan allocated for energy restructuring.

May 11, 2569 at 14.35:XNUMX p.m. Mr. Nattapong Ruangpanyawut, leader of the People's Party (PP). Ms. Sirikanya Tansakul, Deputy Leader of the People's Party. along with Mr. Korn Chatikavanij, Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party (DP). A petition has been submitted to Mr. Sophon Saram, Speaker of the House of Representatives, to forward the matter to the Constitutional Court for a ruling on whether the Emergency Decree authorizing the Ministry of Finance to borrow 4 billion baht to address the energy crisis and transition to clean energy (the Emergency Decree on Borrowing) violates Article 172 of the Constitution.

Mr. Nattapong said The opposition, exercising its rights under Article 173 of the Constitution, submitted a request to the Speaker of the House to forward a petition to the Constitutional Court to consider whether the 4 billion baht loan decree is constitutional. They also urged the public to scrutinize the government's actions, specifically regarding whether 2 billion baht of this loan was secretly included in the 4 billion baht decree for energy restructuring, which is irrelevant to economic security and lacks urgent necessity, while simultaneously using public relief funds as leverage.

The content of the petition submitted by the opposition to the Constitutional Court provides a solution for the court to consider on all aspects. It is believed that if the court rules, it will see that energy restructuring can be done under the annual budget act, or part of the relief measures, which do not necessarily need to be included in the emergency loan decree, as they could be included under the excise tax system.

Mr. Nattapong said The aforementioned emergency decree has been published in the Royal Gazette and is already in effect. However, in a petition filed by the opposition with the Constitutional Court, they are asking the court to rule on what will happen to the funds already spent if the government has already disbursed them before the court's ruling, and if the Constitutional Court rules that the emergency decree was not in effect from the start. Will these funds need to be recovered?

"In the opposition's petition, we have attempted to write it carefully and request the Constitutional Court to issue an immediate order to suspend disbursements specifically for the 2 billion baht loan that is not urgently needed, with each case to be decided individually. The opposition insists that we have drafted the petition meticulously. In the past, the Constitutional Court's rulings have been problematic because orders binding all organizations sometimes infringe upon the powers of the executive branch." Mr. Natthaphong said.

The opposition stated that they will propose a motion to establish a special committee to monitor the spending of funds under the emergency decree on borrowing. It is anticipated that they do not want the government to vote against the establishment of this committee, as the emergency decree was reviewed by only a few screening committees, unlike the normal budget review process which involves multiple reviews of requests. If the government did not intend to conceal, deceive, or issue a blank check, there is no need to vote against the establishment of such a committee.

side Ms. Sirikanya Tansakul, Deputy Leader of the People's Party. It was stated that the opposition's petition to the Constitutional Court to suspend the use of borrowed funds for energy restructuring, specifically the 2 billion baht portion related to public relief, can be spent. The opposition's petition is a separate issue, but ultimately, it depends on the Constitutional Court to rule on whether to apply the entire Emergency Decree or only specific parts of it.

while Mr. Korn Chatikavanij, Deputy Leader of the Democrat Party. It was stated that the constitution provides flexibility for the government to borrow money in the event of an unavoidable economic crisis. Therefore, the opposition must help scrutinize whether, in addition to the 8 billion baht budget deficit this year, the government intends to issue an emergency decree to borrow additional money in accordance with the legal requirements.

Based on a comparison of the government's proposal with past emergency decrees for borrowing, it can be concluded that this 400 billion baht loan is inconsistent with Article 172 of the Constitution. Furthermore, Article 53 of the Fiscal Discipline Act states that emergency decrees can only be issued in cases of urgent necessity. A comparison should be made between past emergency decrees issued during crises such as the Tom Yum Kung crisis, the Hamburger crisis, and the COVID-19 crisis. Whether the situation requiring immediate borrowing is comparable to the current situation is a matter for the Constitutional Court to decide.

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