The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has insisted it will press ahead with the deliberation of the remaining legislative bills until they become law, Jate Siratharanont, a spokesman for the NLA whip, said on Friday.
Mr Jate rejected calls for the assembly to cease its lawmaking duties, saying that there are still 16 pieces of legislation outstanding. The assembly will try to finish their second and third readings by next week.
NLA president Pornpetch Wichit‑ cholchai said that several legislative bills have already passed their first readings and cannot be postponed until a new parliament is in place.
If they are left unfinished, this could have an adverse impact on national administration, Mr Pornpetch said.
Among them is a bill seeking to criminalise torture and enforced disappearances. Some also involve government obligations to the international community such as a draft law on the protection of workers in the fishing industry.
Mr Pornpetch previously said the NLA would suspend lawmaking duties on March 8.
With less than a month to go before the March 24 general election, there are growing calls for the regime-appointed NLA to suspend its lawmaking duties and for its members to resign.
Under Section 263 of the constitution, the NLA will be dissolved one day before the first meeting of the new parliament after the election.
The NLA's decision to press on does not comply with political etiquette, political observers noted. In the past, lawmakers have ceased their duties in the run-up to an election.
The NLA has been criticised for rushing through bills, including the controversial rice bill, which was withdrawn on Tuesday amid fierce opposition.
It also approved another bill revising the 1992 Factory Act, which bypasses the factory licence renewal process.
Jade Donavanik, chairman of the Faculty of Law at the College of Asian Scholars, told the Bangkok Post that the NLA is unlikely to cease its lawmaking duties because the lawmakers are jostling to be chosen as senators by the regime.
He said that the next two weeks will be a golden opportunity for NLA members to impress the National Council for Peace and Order, which is shortlisting Senate candidates from regime-appointed bodies such as the NLA, the now-defunct National Reform Council and the National Reform Steering Assembly.
"Therefore, NLA members have to jostle hard for Senate seats. They have to do all they can to impress Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who has been appointed to head the panel selecting the senators," Mr Jade said.
He called on the NLA to cease deliberating legislation as it will risk passing bills that lack proper consideration and do more harm than good.
The NLA began work on July 31, 2014, and it has since deliberated 506 bills, of which 419 had come into law as of Feb 25.
Some 168 civil groups and NGOs previously signed a petition calling for the NLA members to resign by the end of this week and leave the business of lawmaking to a new parliament.
According to the NGO Coordinating Committee on Development, an umbrella group of NGOs and civil organisations, it is not appropriate for the NLA to carry on since the country is well on the way to a general election on March 24.
The group also said the assembly passed dozens of bills in December and January without public input.
