BUDGET PASSED AFTER ALL-NIGHT SESSION

       Bill for fiscal 2010 approved in vote at 10.30am after three days of debate
       The government's Budget Bill for fiscal 2010 passed the House of Representatives in its final reading yesterday, after more than 40 hours of heated debate over three days.
       The debate on Friday continued all night with voting finally taking place at 10.30am yesterday.
       The Lower House voted 244 to 10 to pass the bill. It covers a budget of Bt1.7 trillion to be spent in the fiscal year starting on October 1. A total of 56 MPs abstained while 13 MPs did not cast any kind of vote.
       Many of the lawmakers and Cabinet members attending the marathon debate were tired.
       Some were spotted napping inside the meeting chamber while others took turns to take short breaks or get some sleep outside the debating room.
       After the bill was passed in its third and final reading, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva thanked MPs and parliamentary staff yesterday for the time and effort spent debating the bill.
       The PM, who attending the all-night debate, said his government would spend the budget efficiently and in a transparent manner.
       The bill will be tabled in the Senate next.
       Asked if he was worried about scrutiny of the bill in the Upper House, Abhisit said he expected to be able to explain certain points to senators if they found any items unclear.
       Some members of the opposition Pheu Thai Party attacked the budget yesterday as inefficient, saying that money spent boosting the economy would become useless.
       They said funding allocated to improve the livelihood of the rural poor, including the community sufficiency economy scheme, was not transparent.
       And they had evidence that some members of the ruling Democrat Party were involved in irregularities.
       Evidence would be sent to the Democrat Party later, the opposition MPs said.
       Following the bill's passage, coalition MPs received a short message that read:
       "Thank you very, very much for the meeting that was just completed. From government whips."
       Government whips sent text messages to update coalition MPs about the progress of the meeting throughout the night.
       Government MPs were reminded that they had to attend the meeting in full force as the coalition only has 18 MPs more than half the total number of members in Lower House - a slim margin to pass bills.

Puea Thai fails to halt budget debate

       House Speaker Chai Chidchob has refused to accept an application by Puea Thai Party lawmakers to delay the deliberation of the annual budget bill proposed by the government.
       Puea Thai MP for Chaiyaphum Charoen Chankomol yesterday asked the speaker to postpone debate on the budget bill because a special House committee did not present details of changes it had made, in which the 2010 budget was to be cut by 22 billion baht to 1.7 trillion baht.
       Mr Charoen said the House could not scrutinise the changes without the details.
       He also questioned the transparency of the changes which the committee had made.
       But the speaker argued that a report on the changes might not be necessary because the special House committee was made up of MPs from both government and opposition parties.
       Yesterday the Puea Thai Party also threatened to seek a Constitution Court ruling on the constitutionality of holding the debate.
       MP Surapong Towijakchaikul said the committee's failure to present details of its changes could be in violation of Article 167 of the constitution.
       Mr Surapong said the opposition would seek a ruling from the court.
       Two days have been set aside for the 2010 budget bill debate, which started yesterday.
       The vote on the bill was set for today but delays have forced the vote to be postponed until next week.
       Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said he was sure the government would have the bill passed.He brushed aside reports that six ministers from the coalition Bhumjaithai Party would abstain from voting.
       The ministers claim they feared their votes could be ruled unconstitutional because they might have a conflict o f interest.
       Mr Suthep said even if they did not vote, the government would still have enough votes to have the bill passed.