The Associated Press
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.
Protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy have rallied on the streets of Bangkok for a month and have occupied the area around Government House, the seat of Thailand's government, since breaking through a police cordon one week ago.
The protesters allege that Samak's government is interfering with corruption charges against Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The alliance led mass demonstrations before the 2006 coup demanding Thaksin step down for alleged corruption and abuse of power. The alliance leaders have said they will not be satisfied until Samak's entire government steps down.
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva accused Samak during debate earlier in the week of mishandling the economy and failing to ease the impact of soaring oil prices, interfering with freedom of the press and violating national interests.
"Even after four months in power, the administration massively mismanaged the country, with no unity, no direction and no efficiency," Abhisit said.
Samak defended the government's economic policy, saying the whole world faced soaring costs driven by oil price hikes.
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.
Protesters led by the People's Alliance for Democracy have rallied on the streets of Bangkok for a month and have occupied the area around Government House, the seat of Thailand's government, since breaking through a police cordon one week ago.
The protesters allege that Samak's government is interfering with corruption charges against Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The alliance led mass demonstrations before the 2006 coup demanding Thaksin step down for alleged corruption and abuse of power. The alliance leaders have said they will not be satisfied until Samak's entire government steps down.
Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva accused Samak during debate earlier in the week of mishandling the economy and failing to ease the impact of soaring oil prices, interfering with freedom of the press and violating national interests.
"Even after four months in power, the administration massively mismanaged the country, with no unity, no direction and no efficiency," Abhisit said.
Samak defended the government's economic policy, saying the whole world faced soaring costs driven by oil price hikes.
1 comment:
even if they accepted the new map, the khmer people of cambodia still can can accept that map because it is in violation of the court ruling that uses the 1904 and 1907 treaties maps that was legal. we can only accept the map used by the court ruling only, nothing less, regardless of thailand agrees or not. law is law.
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