THAILAND’S MILITARY-BACKED GOV’T WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Thailand's ruling military-dominated government won a parliamentary no-confidence vote after four days of debate which saw the opposition raise allegations of mismanagement and corruption, as protests calling for the government to resign continue, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and nine other cabinet ministers each won more than the required majority of votes by a comfortable margin from a total of 481 lawmakers on Saturday. It was the second vote of no-confidence Prayuth's government has faced since a party that supports him won an election in March 2019.

Prayuth was the leader of a military coup in 2014 which toppled an elected government before his junta introduced new electoral laws that favored his return as prime minister.

Prayuth's regime has been accused of abusing power and of heavily cracking down on critics, charges repeated by the opposition during the censure debates.

Although parliament is stacked in his favor, Prayuth still faces pressure from protesters who have held large demonstrations calling for his resignation since last year. More than 1,000 activists gathered outside parliament on Saturday to protest against Prayuth's government.

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