Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said today that he does not need “bodyguards”, a term used to describe MPs who speak to defend a minister, during the 3-day debate on the 2024 fiscal budget bill starting on Wednesday.

He said that every minister, including himself, has the duty to explain to parliament any issues raised by opposition MPs regarding the budget for their ministry.

The prime minister will spend about half an hour providing an overview of the budget and the reasoning behind allocations.

The 2024 budget bill was supposed to come into effect last October 1st, but it has been delayed, partly because the government only took office in August last year.

Regarding the 500 billion baht loan bill, needed to fund the “digital wallet” scheme, the prime minister said that it is waiting for the Council of State to determine its constitutionality.

Sirikanya Tansakul, deputy leader of the opposition Move Forward party, said earlier that the 2024 budget is disappointing, because it is no different to that of the previous government and does not address economic and constitutional crises and political conflicts.

Citing the economic crisis, she claims that the government has no clear plan to address the problem, other than the digital wallet scheme which, unfortunately, is not included in the budget bill.

She also cited the defence budget, which the Pheu Thai party had promised to cut by 10% during the general election campaign, but which has actually increased by about 2%.

The seven opposition parties have been allocated 20 hours to speak during the debate, according to opposition chief whip Pakornwut Udompipatsakul.

The main opposition Move Forward party has 13 hours and 50 minutes, the Democrats, 3 hours and 20 minutes, Thai Sang Thai, 60 minutes and the Fair party, 20 minutes. The New Democracy, Thai Teachers for the People and Mai parties have each been given ten minutes.

Sirikanya also explained that the debate on the budget bill is not a no-confidence debate, with which an opposition attempts to unseat the government.