PUBLISHED: 13 Mar 2025 at 19: 57
The no-confidence debate against Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is expected to be held on March 24 as scheduled after the opposition People’s Party ( PP ) agreed not to name former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during the debate.
The decision to host the conversation was reached during Thursday’s gathering of government and opposition whip. Parliament leader Wan Muhamad Noor Matha and opposition head Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut were also present.
After the conference, Mr Natthaphong said the conversation will take place as planned, while the censure action may be revised to remove Thaksin’s name.
Mr Natthaphong said that the criticism may use different words to refer to Thaksin directly during the conversation.
” I believe Thaksin is still a public figure. If he wants to explain himself, the internet is ready to give him notice. There is no need for him to describe in parliament”, he added.
Mr Natthaphong also said that the criticism requested 30 days to pan Ms Paetongtarn in exchange for no mentioning Thaksin by name in the conversation, which was opposed by state whip.
Government and opposition whip may join again on Wednesday to finalise the schedule for the conversation, he noted.
According to sources, the state wants to control the conversation to no more than two days, with one more day to maintain a confidence vote. During the two-day time, the prime minister also needs time to respond to the opposition, the publications said.
Mr Wan previously warned the criticism never to name an observer if it wants the censure conversation to be scheduled.
Mr Wan has informed Mr Natthaphong that any reference to Ms Paetongtarn’s father must be removed from the motion.
He argued that directly referencing Thaksin, an outsider in the debate, would violate parliamentary meeting regulation No. 176.
He also warned that an unrevised motion could expose lawmakers to defamation lawsuits from outsiders.
The House speaker also said he could be sued for defamation if Thaksin was referenced in the debate. As such, he told the opposition to remove all mention of the former prime minister from the motion, or the debate wouldn’t proceed.
However, the opposition has already submitted an official objection to this request for it to omit Thakin’s name from the debate, according to Arpath Sukhanunth, secretary-general of the House of Representatives.
The House’s working team found that no previous censure motions had ever directly named any external individuals, however, other terms such as “family members” or “former members” have been used, Mr Arpath said.
Speaking at Government House on Thursday, Ms Paetongtarn said she heard that the opposition may use the words” that man” as an indirect reference to her father during the debate.
The no-confidence motion, which was submitted to the parliament president on Feb 27, singles out the PM and accuses her of lacking leadership and allowing her father, Thaksin, to pull strings in the government.
In response, she said she was ready to answer all questions in a censure debate and would let ministers answer any questions that might concern them.
Ms Paetongtarn expressed confidence that the coalition government would survive the censure motion because the bloc is united and strong.