Thai PM Shinawatra survives censure motion

Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, won a censure debate by 319 votes to 165 on Wednesday after a two-day debate on Monday and Tuesday.

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The opposition accused her of inexperience in tackling the challenges facing the country, and also of taking advice from former prime minister and her father Thaksin Shinawatra. They opposition also said that the prime minister avoided giving answers to the media, and she also ended giving wrong answers.

After the vote, Shinawatra, speaking to reporters, said that she would learn from the votes polled against her as well as for her. She also said that there would be no cabinet restiffle though her coalition partners were pressuring her through her father to make changes in her team. She told reporters that she takes advice from her father but nothing more. During the debate she denied charges that she was but a puppet in the hands of her father.

The Shinawatras have been controversial. Thaksin, the tycoon, is popular among the poor people, and his time as prime minister of the country saw the country thrive. His sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was overthrown in a coup in 2014.