Thai PM survives no-confidence vote
Thailand’s prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva faced a no-confidence motion today, but was successful in securing more than half the parliamentary vote after a two-day debate.
Opposition members were unlikely to win the vote, but have made the most of the opportunity to skewer Mr Abhisit over his handling of the Red Shirt protest and the ensuing violence.
But a leading political expert fears the death and violence has been swept under the carpet.
Dr Thitinan Pongsudhirak, the director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, says Thailand has never been so divided and polarised.
He says the no-confidence debate was a needed exercise to collectively internalise what had happened.
“I think the danger in Thailand now and Bangkok is that the week of May 19, that entire week of violence and confrontation has been swept under the carpet,” he said.
