The bill was approved yesterday by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) in its first reading, even as TLSC chairman Sawit Kaew-wan urged the assembly to delay passing the bill.

According to Sawit, the government is required by Article 77 of the Constitution to hold public hearings on this crucial legislation prior to consideration by the NLA.

He said the bill is also against the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention, as it violates the rights of state enterprise employees who will not be allowed to form labour unions after being transferred to the proposed national state enterprise corporation.

Sawit said the NLA needs to delay its enactment and return the bill to the government so that steps could be taken to abide by the Constitution.

Under the proposed legislation on restructuring of state enterprise supervision and management, a national corporation will be set up to act as shareholders of state enterprises on behalf of the Finance Ministry. The restructuring is intended to increase the efficiency of the enterprises.

A national state enterprise policy committee will also be set up with the prime minister as chairperson. The panel will be responsible for formulating policies and strategies as well as approving the transfer of state enterprise shares to the national corporation. The high-powered committee’s members include a deputy premier, the finance minister, chiefs of the Council of State, National Economic and Social Development Board, and Budget Bureau, among others.

The committee is also empowered to merge, restructure and shut down state-owned companies.

The new national corporation will have an initial capital of Bt1 billion. Under the proposed legislation, shares of the 11 state enterprises will be transferred to the national corporation within 180 days to speed up restructuring of their management.

Some NLA members said there should be additional measures under the bill to prevent politicians from interfering with the appointments to the national corporation.

Deputy Finance Minister Wisudhi Srisuphan said only qualified persons could be appointed to the national corporation in accordance with strict rules and regulations on the nomination of candidates. The Cabinet would not be empowered to name candidates to the board of directors of the national corporation.

In its first reading, the bill was passed with 169 votes for while five NLA members abstained.