Thai court sacks PM over ethics case

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BANGKOK – Thailand’s Constitutional Court sacked Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday, branding him dishonest in a ruling in an ethics case that throws the kingdom into fresh political turmoil.
The judges ruled 5-4 that Srettha had breached regulations by appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.
The ruling comes a week after the same court dissolved the main opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) and banned its former leader from politics for 10 years.
Srettha’s appointment showed he “has no honesty and breached ethical standards”, Judge Punya Udchachon said in reading the court’s judgment that “the ministerial position of the prime minister is terminated under the constitution”.
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The court ruled that Srettha must have known about lawyer Pichit Chuenban’s 2008 conviction when he appointed him, Punya said.
Srettha, 62, leaves office after less than a year, the third prime minister from the Pheu Thai party to be kicked out by the Constitutional Court.
The former property tycoon said he was “sad” to be labelled dishonest but would abide by the court’s decision.
“I respect the verdict. I reiterate that for the almost one year I have been in this role, I have tried with good intentions to lead the country with honesty,” Srettha told reporters outside his office.
Thai politics has endured two decades of chronic instability marked by coups, street protests and court orders, much of it energised by the long-running battle between the military, pro-royalist establishment and progressive parties linked to Pheu Thai patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra.
Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai will replace Srettha as a caretaker and parliament will meet at 10:00 am (0300 GMT) on Friday to vote on a replacement.
The ruling coalition led by Pheu Thai will meet at 10:00 am on Thursday to decide who to put forward as its candidate, government whip Wisut Chainarun told AFP.
Under the rules, the new premier must be chosen from the list of candidates parties submitted ahead of the election last year.
As well as Srettha, Pheu Thai’s nominees included Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
Political analyst Ken Mathis Lohatepanont wrote on the Thai Enquirer news site the Pheu Thai-led coalition would “almost certainly hold on”.
He said the prime ministership was likely “Paetongtarn’s to have if she wants it”, but reports late Wednesday suggested Pheu Thai’s other possible candidate, party stalwart Chaikasem Nitisiri, could get the nod.
– Cycle of turmoil –
Srettha fell over the appointment of Pichit, a lawyer associated with the family of billionaire ex-premier Thaksin, the former Manchester City owner and longtime bete noire of Thailand’s conservative elite.
Pichit, sentenced to six months in jail in 2008 for a graft-related offence, quit the cabinet this year in a bid to save Srettha but the court pressed ahead with the case.
Srettha came to power less than a year ago at the head of a coalition led by Pheu Thai, after striking a deal with army-linked parties.
The ruling highlights old divisions in Thai politics between the conservative establishment and progressive parties such as Pheu Thai and its new rival MFP.
Pheu Thai vowed to continue to work for the people of the kingdom.
“This is not the first time that Pheu Thai is facing an obstruction. But we will continue working non-stop,” it said in a statement.
“Every time when we fall, we will move forward and get back with more security, for the better lives of Thai people.”
The case against Srettha was brought by 40 senators who were appointed by the military junta that ousted the elected Pheu Thai government in a 2014 coup.
The senate also played a crucial role in thwarting MFP’s attempt to form a government after last year’s general election.
Senators alarmed by MFP’s pledges to reform lese-majeste laws and break up powerful business monopolies refused to endorse its then-leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister and the party was forced into opposition.
By Thanaporn Promyamyai