Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra faces a no-confidence motion in parliament, starting today (24 March).

The opposition is taking aim at Paetongtarn for her lack of leadership and perceived incompetence, for allowing corruption to continue in her administration, and for her father’s influence over her and the government.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra (Photo from TPchannel)

The main opposition People’s Party decided to omit the name of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from the no-confidence motion after House Speaker Wan Muhammad Noor Matha opposed it on the grounds that it could violate parliamentary regulations. Instead, Thaksin will be referred to as “a family member.”

People’s Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut opened the debate, accusing the government of putting the benefit of the Shinawatra family and of businesses and the political network above the benefit of the people. He also said that the way the government prioritize its policies shows how it has sided with the establishment through nepotism.

The government has many problems, Natthaphong said. Thailand’s score on the EIU Democracy Index has fallen from 6.35 out of 10 to 6.27. No progress has been made to amend the Constitution. It is also coming under fire for deporting Uyghur refugees to China. Its corruption index score is also the worst in 12 years.

Meanwhile, the economy is underperforming, with the country’s GDP growing by only 2.5% instead of 5% as previously projected by the government. The government’s handout scheme is not helping with the economic crisis facing the country, while projects such as the casino entertainment complex scheme benefit only a small group of businesses.

Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut (Photo from People's Party media team)

The government also failed to implement reforms it promised, Natthaphong said, as it has not been able to amend legislation to bring the military under civilian control. Political prisoners remain in detention, and the Pheu Thai Party has rejected observations even from the responsible ad-hoc committee. The Prime Minister’s failure at keeping the government coalition together has delayed constitutional amendments. And when relatives of victims of the Tak Bai massacre filed charges against former officials involved in the massacre, the Prime Minister did not try hard enough to bring the accused to court.

Natthaphong said that Thaksin is exerting influence over his daughter’s administration but is not subjected to the same checks and balances as those with official positions. He criticized Paetongtarn for her lack of knowledge, maturity, and political will, noting that she erred when answering a reporter’s question by saying that a strong Thai baht would improve the country’s exports and deflected another question about the rising electricity cost by saying “merry Christmas.” He also said that she has not pushed hard enough to solve issues facing the public.

“What we get is not that this government is coming in to make the country better, but it is making us weaker. We do not dare to dream or dare to hope for a better future,” he said.

The opposition has been given a total of 28 hours in the debate, with today’s session expecting to go on until 5.30 tomorrow morning and tomorrow’s session until 23.30. The government will have 7 hours to defend the Prime Minister.