Representatives of political parties have convened to discuss the allocation of the 35 House Committee chair positions yesterday, but agreement remains elusive due to overlapping party interests.

Chaithawat Tulathon, the Secretary-General of the Move Forward Party (MFP), stated that there is still no consensus on the allocation of chairs for the 35 House committees as some parties are unwilling to negotiate.

The government side insists that the allocation of positions should align with responsible ministries to ensure smooth workflow. Chaithawat disagrees, citing potential disruption to the checks and balances mechanism.

The MFP emphasises the importance of scrutiny and believes that several crucial committees should be overseen by the opposition to keep the government accountable. They are determined to take oversight roles in committees such as the Committee on Budget Study and Budget Administration Follow-up, as well as the Committee on Corruption Prevention and Suppression.

Chaithawat further proposed that a tradition be established to clarify which committees should be designated for the opposition.

The Secretary-General understands that the process takes time and believes that an agreement will eventually be reached. However, given that most parties are part of the government, the MFP bears the responsibility of negotiating with each faction.

Pichet Chuamuangphan, Deputy Speaker of the House, reported zero progress in allocating committee chairs due to overlapping party interests and lack of compromise. With the meeting at a standstill and no additional meeting scheduled, he called upon parties to engage in informal negotiations.

He added that if an agreement could not be reached, it might be necessary to adopt a lottery system similar to the one used by the Election Commission (EC) to randomly select MP candidate numbers to ensure fair treatment for all parties.

As the end of September marks the conclusion of the fiscal year, failure to reach an agreement would make it impossible to proceed with essential work of benefit to the public, he said.