The opposition has named Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaichanok Chidchob as initial no-confidence targets over concerns about government accountability and policy implementation.
Opposition parties have agreed to proceed with a no-confidence motion under Section 151 of the constitution, which provides for a debate followed by a vote, People’s Party (PP) list-MP Parit Wacharasindhu, the opposition chief whip, said on Wednesday.
The opposition will move quickly to prepare the motion, with Rangsiman Rome, a PP list-MP, set to lead a working group responsible for coordinating with other opposition parties, gathering allegations and drafting the motion.
Mr Parit said the opposition expected the process to take only a few weeks. While other ministers could be named later, Mr Anutin and Mr Chaichanok had already been agreed upon as the initial targets.
He declined to preview any “knockout” evidence, saying the opposition would let its performance during the debate speak for itself.
However, he urged the prime minister and the Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) not to use procedural means to prevent the opposition from raising issues concerning alleged collusion in the Senate election and cheating in local government examinations.
Mr Parit also rejected speculation over whether the opposition could bring down the government, saying it could not predict how MPs would vote.
Although the government still has a majority, he said the debate was not simply about counting votes but about presenting evidence to the public.
If the opposition secured enough votes to defeat the government, it would leave office sooner. Otherwise, a strong performance in the debate could influence voters at the next election, he said.
Government chief whip Paradorn Prissananantakul said the government welcomed the no-confidence motion, describing it as a legitimate constitutional tool for the opposition to scrutinise the administration. The government had not tried to anticipate the opposition’s arguments and would wait to see the motion before preparing its response, he said.
Mr Paradorn insisted the government had not engaged in any illegal or corrupt conduct and was confident it could answer all allegations.
Asked whether the Senate election collusion case would be a major focus, he said the issue would likely target BJT in particular. The party has denied involvement and had instructed its members in writing not to interfere in the Senate selection process.
BJT list-MP Akradech Wongpituchroj, also a government whip, said the government was not afraid of scrutiny and cited its energy reforms, promotion of artificial intelligence, the Thais Help Thais Plus subsidy scheme, national disaster insurance and the clean-energy transition as examples of its work.
He also said the government had acted against suspected corruption, including irregularities in local government examinations, and had allowed the Department of Special Investigation to investigate. Mr Akradech urged the opposition to base its allegations on facts and evidence rather than political rhetoric, saying ministers were ready to answer all questions.