Thailand’s Constitutional Court sacks Paetongtarn Shinawatra
According to the Constitutional Court, the prime minister violated her duty of integrity because of what she said in a controversial phone call, whose audio was released by Cambodia’s Hun Sen. The military-aligned party is moving toward a deal with Anutin, a former Shinawatra ally in government. Meanwhile, Thailand’s military warns that it is ready to respond to further "provocations" from Phnom Penh.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Thailand's Constitutional Court today sacked Paetongtarn Shinawatra as prime minister just one year after she took office, ruling that 38-year-old Shinawatra violated Articles 160.4 and 160.5 of the constitution by failing to meet the ethical standards that should guide the prime minister’s actions, which require they display “evident integrity” and “not have behaviour which is a serious violation of or failure to comply with ethical standards”.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra is the fifth prime minister to be turfed out of office by the Court in 17 years. On 14 August 2024, the Court forced out for the same reasons another member of the Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party, Srettha Thavisin, after he offered a ministerial post to a person who had served time in prison.
In the Paetongtarn Shinawatra case, her fault was to have spoken negatively about the Thai military in a telephone conversation with Hun Sen, president of the Cambodian senate, who had close ties to the Shinawatra family.
Hun Sen's "betrayed” the now former Thai prime minister by releasing the audio tape of their phone conversation, amid escalating tensions between the two countries, which caused a negative reaction in Thailand, where 36 senators called on the Constitutional Court to act.
As a result, Paetongtarn Shinawatra took a leave of absence from her post as PM on 1 July, while taking on the Culture portfolio.
The Court's ruling now ushers in a period of uncertainty in a country already facing an economic crisis and the possibility of war with Cambodia, in the wake of border tensions that turned violent starting in May with scores of deaths, hundreds of thousands of people displaced, and border crossings shut down.
Shortly before today's ruling, Thailand’s military issued a statement reiterating its commitment to respond to new provocations and impose martial law in a section of the disputed border.
Meanwhile, the pro-military opposition party, Palang Pracharath, and the second-largest party in the ruling coalition, Bhumjaithai, announced that the latter’s leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, would serve as prime minister for a six-month term. Anutin had been seeking a prominent national role for years.
Until now, voters have preferred progressive parties and leaders or Pheu Thai’s 38-year-old leader, Paeongtarn Shinawatra, and, from behind the scenes, her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Anutin could try to secure the unofficial support of pro-military, nationalist, and monarchist parties, or lead the country to the polls, with a high probability that both Pheu Thai and, above all, reformers from the former People's Party, might win again, sparking another round of instability.
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13/07/2006
15/05/2023 15:39
