THE Secretary-general of the National Security Council said today (August 19) that the Covid situation and a certainty that there will not be another crisis would determine whether the emergency decree is cancelled at the end of next month, Naewna newspaper said.
Gen. Supot Malaniyom, NSC’s secretary-general, aired his views on this key issue after Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam had said extension of the emergency decree is up to NSC and the Public Health Ministry.
He pointed out that it is now clear that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had approved plans for Covid-19 to be declared an endemic disease.
However whether the emergency decree will be scrapped depends on assessment of the situation from preparation to the number of people infected with this to be looked into at the next Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) meeting.
Asked whether there is a good chance of the emergency decree to be cancelled, he replied that this decree is not used for other purposes and if political issues are overlooked it has many advantages.
This is because if any problem crops up it could be completely handled, he said, adding that it has to be assessed if the Communicable Diseases Act is adequate and no crisis or damage again occurs but if they do they are tackled in a timely manner.
All the assessment should be completed by October 1, he said.
However Gen. Supot mentioned that there is a condition on the enactment of the emergency decree and that is it has to be considered by the cabinet while the next CCSA meeting is likely taking place in the third week of September.
Should the emergency decree be cancelled then CCSA will automatically be dissolved because it was set up under the authority of this decree.
Yet Prime Minister Prayut has the authority to set up various committees and could ask Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul who is the chairman of the National Communicable Disease Committee to set up one and report to the cabinet.
Once CCSA is dissolved NSC will go back to concentrating on national security but could participate in the committee the Public Health Minister sets up or the Emergency Operations Centre, he said.
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Top: National Security Council’s secretary-general Gen. Supot Malaniyom. Photo: Naewna
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