MP shot after censure debate session

BANGKOK (AFP): An MP from Thailand’s governing Democrat party was ambushed and shot after leaving the censure debate in Parliament, party officials said today. Parnawat Liangpongpan, an MP from Buriram province in Isarn, was attacked by a gunman outside his apartment in Bangkok as he got out of his car in the early hours of this morning. “He was shot four times from behind, but the doctors have declared him out of danger,” Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart told Parliament. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said police were still trying to establish a motive for the shooting. Parnawat is not regarded as a key political figure in the censure debate, which started on Wednesday and is due to go to a vote – which the government is expected to survive – tomorrow.