Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha survived a vote of no confidence in parliament on Saturday, in his last major test ahead of a general election expected to take place in 11 months’ time.
The 68-year-old former army chief has been in power since a coup he led in 2014. He has secured the votes needed to keep the post until his term ends in March.
Prayuth received 256 votes in favor and 206 against, with nine abstentions. The opposition needed more than 239 of the 477 parliamentary votes to overthrow him.
The prime minister and 10 cabinet members were subjected to four days of live televised interrogations, with the opposition accusing them of corruption and economic mismanagement in an effort to discredit the 17-party ruling coalition ahead of upcoming elections.
It was the fourth time that Prayuth has been voted on since he was chosen by the House to remain prime minister in 2019 after an election that the opposition said was skewed. Prayuth rejected this claim.
Despite recent opinion polls showing that his popularity is on the wane, Prayuth was expected to remain prime minister, according to political analysts, some of whom saw the censure motion as an opposition move to court public support before the upcoming elections.
Prayuth gave no indication of when, exactly, an election will be called.
Source: CNN Brasil
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