Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra survived a no-confidence vote on Wednesday despite facing accusations from the country’s main opposition. They claimed she was unqualified and overly influenced by her father in her administration.
She secured the support of 319 out of the 488 lawmakers present, as reported by Reuters.
The opposition People’s Party has claimed that she is being guided by her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, who served as the country’s prime minister from 2001 to 2006.
Additionally, Paetongtarn is the niece of Yingluck Shinawatra, who served as Thailand’s prime minister from 2011 until her ouster by a coup in 2014.
During the censure debate on Tuesday, opposition members of parliament highlighted alleged deficiencies in the prime minister’s knowledge and criticized her for evading questions from the media.
She also faced allegations of economic mismanagement, national security failures, and tax evasion.
Despite these challenges, her survival in the vote was anticipated, with a March 24 analysis by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore indicating the opposition lacked sufficient votes for her removal.
This motion arises during a period of waning public trust in her administration.
A February survey conducted by Thailand’s National Institute of Development found that only 45.12% of participants were pleased with Paetongtarn’s performance during her initial six months as prime minister.
Even fewer, just 38.55%, have confidence in her coalition government’s ability to address national issues.
In terms of economic performance, Thailand’s GDP growth for the full year of 2024 was reported at 2.5%, marking it as the lowest among the ASEAN-6 nations, according to McKinsey.
Additionally, the country’s SET index has seen a significant decline, dropping over 15% since the start of the year.
The ASEAN-6 includes the nations of Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
