PP's Parit tries to turn govt policy statement into censure debate
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PP's Parit tries to turn govt policy statement into censure debate

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Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announces government policies in parliament on Sept 12. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra announces government policies in parliament on Sept 12. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)

The government's policy statement wrapped up on Saturday with a promise to stimulate the sluggish economy and tackle stubborn debt problems as ministers asked for public confidence in its ability to implement the policies.

"The government is asking the public to have confidence in its ability to implement these policies which have been declared in parliament," said Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai.

He was speaking on behalf of the coalition government in a closing statement delivered at the end of the two-day parliamentary meeting which ended at 1.09am on Saturday. The total time spent on the meeting was two hours longer than the initially planned 29 hours.

The policies declared are aimed at improving people's quality of life, and building on the work of the previous government over the past year, including tackling household debts, curbing living costs, suppressing crimes and enhancing the country's ability to compete on the global stage through various projects, including labour skill development and supporting the green and digital economies, said Mr Phumtham.

During the debate on Friday, the opposition People's Party (PP) turned the policy declaration into a censure debate when Parit Wacharasindhu, a PP list-MP, told those present that this represented a forum to assess the government's work in the past year.

Even though a new government had been formed, it is still run by almost the same political parties and families, he said.

He said the Srettha Thavisin administration had not achieved anything so far and none of the five policies he promised to urgently implement had been considered a success.

The digital handout scheme, for example, still hasn't been launched while no new measures had been implemented by the Srettha government to lower household debt, Mr Parit added.

He said measures aimed at bringing down energy costs were only temporary, while the government's bid to boost the country's tourism sector had yet to yield as much economic value as expected.

Mr Parit said he couldn't have any confidence in the new government to achieve any of its policies, albeit nicely worded, over the next three years.

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