Nattawut demands Sophon fulfill his promise to add parliamentary sitting days to consider over 25 pending bills from the public and MPs, stressing that this was a resolution previously agreed upon and urging not to shift the responsibility to the party whips to negotiate among themselves.
On 24 August 2026, Mr. Nattawut Buapathum, a party-list MP from the Prachachon Party and advisor to the Opposition Whip Committee, spoke about the readiness to open the House of Representatives session on 26 August 2026. He confirmed that the opposition has been in continuous discussion during the recess and is fully prepared to perform its duties, including reviewing bills, motions, reports, preparing to consider the annual budget bill in its second and third readings, and the upcoming no-confidence debate during this session.
However, upon reviewing the meeting agenda, it was found that many bills submitted by the public and MPs remain pending. He therefore calls on Mr. Sophon Sarum, the President of the Parliament, to honor his promise made on 25 March 2026 during a meeting with representatives of all political parties, to set aside one separate day per week specifically for bill consideration. This responsibility falls directly under the Speaker's authority, and he urges that once a commitment is made, it must be fulfilled. He also insists that this duty should not be shifted to the whips of both sides to negotiate on their own.
"Several bills have been pending since the previous parliamentary session, such as the draft Act on Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence, which was almost considered before the session closed on 8 July. However, the government side chose not to coordinate for the presenter to attend, and the session was adjourned before evening. Other public-submitted bills include the draft Act on Human Resource Management Professions, the draft Act on the Recognition of Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Characteristics, and the draft Act on Reporting and Disclosure of Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (PRTR). All are important matters and top priorities among pending issues. All parties agreed in principle to set up committees to review these during the recess, but that opportunity was lost, and the consideration has been indefinitely delayed without a clear timeline."
Mr. Nattawut noted that upon reviewing the agenda for the House of Representatives meeting on Wednesday, 26 August 2026, there are seven bills from the public and MPs pending consideration, and over 18 more newly proposed bills are scheduled for inclusion. Many of these are important to the public, such as bills concerning local administrative organizations, the Public Assembly Act, and the repeal of the Anti-Prostitution Act. However, it has been confirmed that the meeting will first consider a borrowing decree for 400 billion baht, meaning other pending bills cannot be addressed at that time.
"When scheduling the parliamentary agenda, urgent matters and bills already reviewed by committees, such as the Broadcasting Business Act or the Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi Act, are prioritized, making it difficult to consider bills from the public or MPs. Considering that public-submitted bills require collecting 10,000 signatures, which is no easy task, I volunteer to remind Mr. Sophon, as Speaker, of the resolution agreed on 25 March 2026 that if many bills remain pending, additional sitting days should be added every other Friday. We should not have to keep demanding the slogan 'Say and Do.' If the opposition's no-confidence debate approaches and this is not done, the Speaker may lose the opportunity to act, and the greatest losers will be the citizens still waiting for these laws to solve their problems. This is a critical matter that MPs, as representatives of the people and legislators, must seriously recognize."