The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha had been targeted for economic mismanagement and a failure to prevent corruption. Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has survived his fourth no-confidence vote in the parliament and his last major test ahead of next year’s general election. Prayuth and 10 of his cabinet members pulled through the vote on Saturday, following four days of censure debate targeting the ministers for economic mismanagement and their failure to prevent corruption. The Prime Minister won 256 confidence votes and 206 against, with nine abstaining. During the censure debate in the past few days, the issues raised by the opposition contain some incorrect information and the government has used this opportunity to clarify things, government spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said. Now that the censure debate is completed we urged the opposition to work with us for the people and the country. What led to the vote? Prayuth was the main target of opposition parties in the four days of grilling that was telecast live on television. Opposition chief whip Sutin Klungsang said that the Prime Minister’s key failure was economic management. Prayuth, who is also the Defense Minister, was also accused of spying on dissidents with Pegasus spyware, and of misusing Thailand’s budget. Prayuth has defended his government’s record, stressing that the nation’s economy is stable despite spiking energy prices and high inflation. For the remaining 250 days of the government, I insist that I will do everything to take the country out of the crisis as soon as possible, he said. Prayuth has sailed through three previous censure motions since 2020. The 68-year-old retired general has been in power since a coup he led in 2014. His term is scheduled to end in March next year. However, there is yet to be an indication from the prime minister of when an election will be called. What did the opposition say? Cholanan Srikaew, head of the main opposition Pheu Thai Party, called the result of the vote disappointing as it didn’t reflect public sentiment. We know we cannot win in the Parliament but we will not lose in the general election, he said. As the censure debate went on, youth-led protest groups which first surfaced in 2020 to challenge the government assembled outside the parliament and conducted a parallel vote of no-confidence. While 16,690 votes went against the government, only 251 were in favor.

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Friday decided to introduce a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Parliament.   PDM chief Fazlur Rehman briefed reporters after a key meeting of the group in Lahore and said that the alliance has unanimously decided to move a no-confidence motion against the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government led by Khan, reported Geo News.   Speaking during a press conference after holding a meeting of the PDM, Fazl said the alliance would approach the government's allied parties to get them on board so as to acquire a voting majority in the National Assembly to bring about a no-confidence motion to oust Imran Khan.   "PDM has announced the no-confidence motion at this stage because we have a firm intention of doing so," added the PDM chief.   However, he also said, "We will first do our homework, so we cannot talk about the definite timeframe for this move."Meanwhile, Pak opposition is jettisoning mutual hatred to ouster Khan. They were planning a no-confidence motion or street protests or even a combination of both in a joint fight against Khan's misgovernance.   Earlier, opposition parties like Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the allies of Imran Khan - Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) are setting aside their differences to ouster 'Kaptaan' (Imran Khan), reported Dawn. Source: ANI

Twenty-two accused in BUET student Abrar Fahad murder case, expressed no-confidence on the judge of the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 on Thursday. No-confidence pleas said that the depositions of witnesses were recorded in the case for a second time illegally which has triggered doubts over proper justice. Besides, the Tribunal prosecutor Abu Abdullah Bhuiyan said the accused have filed no-confidence pleas against Tribunal Judge Abu Jafar Md Kamruzzaman to prolong the trial process. The Tribunal has fixed December 6 to hear the matter, he said. So far, depositions of 40 witnesses among 60 have been recorded in the case. On Sep 15, charges were framed against 25 accused in the murder case. Abrar, 21, a second-year student of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, was beaten to death reportedly by then Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders at Sher-e-Bangla Hall of the university. He was found dead on the staircase of the hall in the early hours of October 7 after he was taken to room No-2011 around 8pm on October 6 and beaten mercilessly. His murder sparked nationwide outcry. On November 13, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) submitted a charge sheet before the court. On November 18 last, the court accepted the chargesheet against 25 accused. On January 13, the case was shifted to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court from Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court. On March 12 this year, Abrar murder case was shifted to Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 after his parents met the Law Minister and urged to shift the case to a Speedy Trial Tribunal. Source: UNB AH

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s lawyers have expressed no-confidence in the High Court bench of Justice JBM Hassan who was assigned by the chief justice to hear her pleas over candidature in December 30 election. The lawyers placed the no-confidence during hearing on three writ petitions in the newly formed third bench. Then Justice JBM Hasan asked the lawyers to place a writen statement before it. Later, Khaleda’s counsels sought time for placing the statement in written. The bench set December 17 for submitting the statement before it. On Wednesday, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain assigned the bench to hear and dispose of Khaleda's three writ pleas. On Tuesday, the bench of Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir issued a split order on Khaleda Zia's candidature for the upcoming general polls. Senior Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed stayed the EC’s decisions and accepted Khaleda’s appeal while Justice Md Iqbal Kabir upheld EC’s rejection decisions. As per rules, the petition was sent to the Chief Justice on Wednesday and he formed a new bench to settle the issue. Earlier in the day, the Chief Justice sent Khaleda Zia’s election case back to a High Court panel for further clarification. Returning officers rejected BNP chief Khaleda’s nominations for Feni-1, Bogura-6 and 7 constituencies since she had been convicted in the two graft cases. Later, the Election Commission upheld their decisions in this regard. Khaleda then took three writ petitions to the High Court on Sunday, challenging EC’s decision upholding the returning officers' cancellation of her nomination papers. As per rules, a convict, who served two or more years in jail in a criminal case, cannot contest elections within five years soon after the jail term. On February 8 this year, BNP chief Khaleda was jailed for five years in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case and her jail term was doubled by the High Court on October 30. Earlier, a special court sentenced the BNP chief to seven-year imprisonment in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case. MHK