Nation TV to show public no-confidence vote during censure debate

Nation TV, Thairath TV, Work Point TV and PPTV will broadcast the parallel vote by members of the public, which is being organised by a May 1992 foundation along with other civil groups and academics from four universities.

Prinya Thewanaruemitkul, a legal scholar leader and leader of the foundation, said the four universities supporting the project to encourage public participation in politics are Thammasat, Nida (National Institute of Development Administration), Srinakharinwirot and Rangsit.

The censure debate targeting PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 10 other ministers will be held from Tuesday to Friday, with MPs due to vote on Saturday.

Prinya said members of the public would be invited to vote in parallel to promote democratic participation.

The four TV stations will display a QR code that links to a web page for members of the public to cast their votes on individual censure targets.

Each mobile phone or device that scans the code can be used to vote just once.

The public censure vote will start at 6pm on Friday and end at 11am on Saturday – the same time that voting by MPs will close.

The results of the public vote will be broadcast on the four TV stations in parallel with the voting results by coalition and opposition MPs, Prinya said.

This would be the first time the public has been able to participate in a censure vote through online channels, he said, adding that the event aimed to promote a democratic mindset among people.