Thai prime minister dismissed by court for violating ethics code

Thailand has been plunged into political turmoil after the constitutional court dismissed the country’s prime minister, a week after the same judges disbanded its most popular party.
Srettha Thavisin was removed from office for ethics code violations for naming to his cabinet a lawyer who was briefly jailed for alleged attempted bribery 16 years ago.
The 62-year-old former property tycoon, who had been in power for less than a year, is the third prime minister to be removed by the same court for various offences since 2008.
All represented parties of Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister who was deposed in a 2006 coup and whose sister Yingluck was overthrown by the military in 2014.
The verdict opens another bout of political uncertainty in a country where the armed forces and conservative courts have regularly intervened to thwart victories by anti-establishment parties at the ballot box.
In an unrelated case last week the top court banned the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP), the surprise winner of the 2023 elections, over its manifesto pledge to reform strict royal defamation laws.
It also barred several MFP officials from politics for ten years, including Pita Limjaroenrat, the charismatic young leader who was blocked from becoming prime minister last year by the military-appointed upper house.
After that manoeuvre by the conservative old guard, Srettha was elected prime minister representing Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party. The deal was struck under a fragile agreement to form a new coalition between long-time foes in Pheu Thai and pro-military parties linked to the two anti-Thaksin coups.
Thaksin returned from 15 years in self-exile on the day Srettha became prime minister. He served a prison sentence in a police hospital before being released on parole.
But the uneasy truce was already showing signs of fraying. Thaksin has maintained a high political profile, to the chagrin of his enemies, and now faces a charge of lese majeste.
Thailand’s parliament must now choose a new leader from MPs already listed as prime ministerial candidates for their parties in 2023.
The options include Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn, 37, now the Pheu Thai leader. It is the largest government party but the family name is still anathema to many conservatives and some are believed to be nervous about the young mother taking on the risks of the top job.
Also a strong contender is Anutin Charnvirakul, 57, the deputy prime minister and interior minister. He leads Bhumjaithai, the second-largest coalition party, has good ties to the palace and the military and oversaw the liberalisation of cannabis.
Prawit Wongsuwan, 79, a powerful former army chief who served as number two in the last junta, has long harboured ambitions to run the country despite his advanced age and the poor electoral performance of his military-aligned party.
Move Forward’s surviving MPs regrouped under the new banner of the People’s Party on Friday but they cannot put forward a candidate.
The constitutional court narrowly voted to oust Srettha in a ruling which is final and cannot be appealed against. The petition against him was brought by former members of the military-installed senate, the body that blocked Pita last year.
“The court has found 5-4 that the accused is terminated as prime minister due to his lack of honesty,” the judges said. His behaviour “grossly breached ethical standards”, they added.
Srettha accepted the ruling while maintaining his honesty. “I’m sorry that I’d be considered as a prime minister who’s unethical, but that’s not who I am,” he said.
He insisted that his plans to appoint to his cabinet Pichit Chuenban, a former Shinawatra lawyer, were above board and approved by government advisers.
Pichit was briefly imprisoned for contempt of court in 2008 over an alleged attempt to bribe judicial officials with cash in a grocery bag over a case involving Thaksin.
Phumtham Wechayachai, Pheu Thai’s first deputy prime minister and commerce minister, is expected to lead the country in a caretaker role until parliament elects a new leader.