Thai prime minister expected to win no-confidence vote

Thai lawmakers are due to vote on no-confidence motions filed against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and five members of his Cabinet

BANGKOK -- Thai lawmakers are due to vote Saturday on no-confidence motions filed against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and five members of his Cabinet, after four days of opposition criticism were overshadowed by heady speculation that his own allies might try to unseat him. Little attention was given to the details of the opposition's harsh accusations that Prayuth’s administration had botched the coronavirus response, countenanced corruption and mismanaged the economy. Thai media were instead abuzz with rumors that the secretary-general of the ruling, military-backed Palang Pracharath party, which put together the coalition government that named Prayuth prime minister two years ago, was leading the effort to unseat him and pull the main opposition Pheu Thai party into the coalition. Nonetheless, Prayuth and his colleagues are expected to prevail by winning a majority in the House of Representatives, which currently has 482 members.