Senate scrutiny for stimulus plan

       The Senate yesterday voted to insert a key clause requiring parliamentary scrutiny of the government's plan to spend Bt400 billion to revitalise the economy.
       The vote is seen as a snub to the government, which wants to treat the package as an off-the-budget measure to avoid scrutiny by citing an urgency to fight the economic downturn.
       Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij returned from London early to defend authorising the public debt, but failed to convince the upper chamber to approve the House-version of the bill allowing the spending to proceed without scrutiny.
       "The government has deemed it necessary to quickly inject funds into the economy, hence the reason to cut short the parliamentary vetting process to just an acknowledgement of the spendings," he said.
       Korn later added that after consulting legal authorities, including the Council of State, he found out that it was legal, constitutional and appropriate to exclude the vetting for off-the-budget spendings.
       Since the funds were not part of the national budget, the legislative meddling might be construed as unconstitutional because it transgresses on executive power, he warned, prompting fiery protests from several Senators.
       Senator Kamnoon Sithisaman said he was preparing to seek a Constitution Court review on the leeway to authorise spending plans without parliamentary scrutiny.
       Kamnoon's colleagues, including Manoch Kraiwong and Tuang Antachai, said the Senate would not bow to pressure from the finance minister.
       Though Korn apologised for his remarks about transgression on executive power, the upper chamber insisted on its version of the bill by the majority of 51-to-34 votes.
       The Senate meeting last night approved the third reading of bill by a majority of 76-to-6 votes.