No-confidence motion given little chance in Thai parliament

December 15, 1999
Web posted at: 10:00 p.m. HKT (1400 GMT)

From staff and wire reports.

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Thailand's opposition, led by former Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, opened a no-confidence debate in the country's parliament Wednesday with no hope of toppling Chuan Leekpai's Democrat Party government.

Instead, the censure motion put forward by Chavalit's New Aspiration Party appeared politically motivated, aimed at drawing voters ahead of senate elections in March and November's general election.

"We are confident we will win the hearts of people during the debate," said New Aspiration spokesman Warathep Ratanakorn.

But Chuan, with a 232 to 149 seat majority in parliament, was at least as confident of his government's performance.

"You said the economic situation is getting worse -- that is your point of view, but what I can say now is the economy is getting better and is on its way of full recovery," Chuan told Parliament, responding to Chavalit's accusations of mismanagement and corruption. "It will not turn back to the terrible times when you were in power."

Prime Minister Chuan says the economy is getting better

Chavalit's government was widely blamed for pushing Thailand into economic crisis when it devalued the country's currency, the baht, in July 1997.

Somyos Chuothai, a political scientist at Bangkok's Thammasat University, said the time may simply not be right for an opposition push against the government.

"Instead of discrediting the government, the opposition is boosting its image," Somyos said. "The public has no faith in the opposition as the memory of the Chavalit-led government is still fresh."

A vote on the no-confidence motion is expected Saturday, after three days of debate.

Bangkok Bureau Chief John Raedler and Reuters contributed to this report.

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