Embattled Thai PM Prayut survives budget test in parliament

BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Thailand’s parliament passed a US$89 billion annual budget bill for the 2023 fiscal year, in a reprieve for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha who is facing calls to quit amid a raging debate over his eligibility to stay in office.

The 3.19 trillion baht spending plan, which also includes a deficit of 695 billion baht (US$19.3 billion), for the fiscal year starting Oct 1 received the backing of the majority of 500-seat lower house during the final vote late on Tuesday (Aug 23). While a total of 258 lawmakers supported the budget, 180 members voted against it after a five-day debate.

The budget will now go to the Senate, where Prayuth’s coalition commands a majority, for approval within 20 days.

Prayut and his government have come under criticism as they grapple with reviving the pandemic-battered economy. Thailand is on course to see the slowest expansion among South-East Asian peers this year, with inflation hovering at a 14-year high.

The prime minister had been expected to gain the parliamentary backing for the budget bill though he remains deeply unpopular. In an independent opinion poll published in June, Prayut trailed significantly behind Paetongtarn Shinawatra of the opposition Pheu Thai Party, daughter of former ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra who was toppled in a coup in 2006.

Prayut, who was the junta chief following a 2014 coup and stayed on as civilian prime minister after elections in 2019, now faces a ruling by the nation’s Constitutional Court on his eligibility to stay on in the office.

The opposition parties last week sought a ruling on when his term should end, saying that Prayut would exceed an eight-year limit as stipulated by the 2017 military-backed charter if he stayed in office beyond Aug. 23.

The court is likely to decide on Wednesday if it should accept the petition or dismiss it, according to the Bangkok Post.

"Political risk appears low for now, but noise is likely to rise in the second half as the government’s term is nearing an end and pre-election activity begins,” Tim Leelahaphan, a Bangkok-based economist at Standard Chartered said in a note Tuesday.