Thai PM survives no-confidence vote
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand’s prime minister survived a no-confidence vote Friday, fending off opposition accusations of incompetence, mismanagement and yielding national sovereignty.
The parliamentary opposition’s motion against Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was rejected Friday in the 470-member lower house of Parliament by a vote of 280-162, with the rest of the lawmakers abstaining or absent. The lawmakers also rejected no-confidence motions against seven other Cabinet members.
The voting results were largely expected because Samak’s six-party coalition, led by his People’s Power Party, controls two-thirds of the seats in the lower house.
Despite the victory, Samak and his government continue to face political hurdles including street protests that have hounded his government for the past month.
Critics accuse Samak’s government, which took office in February, of mismanaging the ailing Thai economy and of being a proxy for ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He has angrily denied all the allegations.
The opposition also accused him of bypassing Parliament last week when he endorsed Cambodia’s application for UNESCO World Heritage Site status for a disputed border temple. The temple is located on still-disputed territory although it was awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962.
The 11th-century temple has been the subject of a territorial dispute between Cambodia and Thailand for decades, and many Thais still claim the temple for Thailand.
