Opposition whips have agreed to reject the government’s fiscal budget bill for 2025 on the grounds that its allocations do not address Thailand’s future situation and that a portion of the budget is being misappropriated to fund the “digital wallet” scheme.
Meanwhile, Move Forward party-list MP Sirikanya Tansakul, one of whips, said the bill, currently in its third day of deliberation in the House, will be rejected by the Opposition because it will put the country’s fiscal position at unnecessary risk, to the extent that Thailand may not be able to cope with new challenges.
Sirikanya added that Thailand’s fiscal deficit has reached a point that, if there were an emergency of national proportion, the country would not be able to handle it.
Sirikanya claimed that, to push through the digital wallet scheme at all costs, the government has ignored several of its other policies, such as “Ignite Thailand”, “Soft Power” and financial support for the SMEs.
She warns that the Opposition may seek the intervention of the Constitutional Court, as a last resort, to stop the digital wallet scheme, if the budget bill passed its three readings in the House.
She said that the Opposition expects the scheme to be amended during its scrutiny process.
Democrat MP Romtham Khamnurak said the Democrat party disagrees with the government’s plan to borrow money from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, partially to fund the digital wallet scheme.
The Opposition chief whip Pakornwut Udompipatskul said that all opposition parties must make sure that their MPs vote against the budget bill, as he confirmed that all Move Forward MPs will do so.
