Thailand's youngest PM faces no-confidence vote amid opposition attacks

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will on Wednesday be the subject of a no-confidence vote in parliament, in an early test of the unity of her ruling coalition following two days of intense grilling by the opposition.

Paetongtarn, 38, became Thailand’s youngest premier in August and despite lukewarm ratings in opinion polls and fierce criticism during the televised censure debate, she is expected to prevail in the vote, with no open signs of discord in her 11-party alliance.

She faced a host of allegations in parliament this week, from economic mismanagement and tax evasion to favouring her wealthy family and allowing her powerful father Thaksin Shinawatra to interfere in government, though analysts have said the censure is unlikely to weaken her administration.

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Her coalition controls 320 of the 500 seats in the lower house and the motion against the premier will need the support of more than half of the lawmakers present to succeed.

The opposition People’s Party, the biggest party in parliament, directed much of its attacks on Paetongtarn’s close relationship with her father, a polarising billionaire former premier who is banned from holding office over a conviction for conflicts of interest and abuse of power that kept him in self-exile for 15 years.

Thaksin has loomed large over Thai politics for 24 years and returned home in 2023. He spent six months in detention in hospital under a government led by the Pheu Thai Party he founded, before being released on parole and declaring he was retired from politics.

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Paetongtarn, the fourth member of the Shinawatra family to hold the top job, denied allegations levelled against her during the debate and has repeatedly said she only took advice from her father.

“I am doing this with the best of my abilities. I am also Thaksin Shinawatra’s daughter, I say this proudly,” Paetongtarn said in her closing statements on Tuesday.

“I ask all of you to assess my skills and efforts as prime minister. Criticism should be about the work. That will be more beneficial for this parliament and the country,” she said.