Another Thai prime minister bites the dust after Constitutional Court ruling

3 weeks ago 6

Thailand’s suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been officially sacked, making her the fourth person from her extended family to be ousted from the top job by a court or military coup.

The case in the Constitutional Court centred on supposed ethical violations that stemmed from a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s de facto leader Hun Sen. Many, though, will see the court’s decision on Friday as more meddling by Thailand’s powerful military and royalist establishment.

Now-former Thai prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Paetongtarn, the daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was given her chance last year after the same court dismissed Srettha Thavisin, also for unethical behaviour – Srettha had given a cabinet job to a former lawyer with a murky history.

At 37, she became the country’s youngest prime minister.

Paetongtarn’s controversial phone call with Hun Sen in June came as the two countries were on the brink of armed conflict, which eventually broke out in late July. The leaked recording revealed Paetongtarn calling Hun Sen, who is an old family friend, “uncle” and offering to “take care of” whatever Cambodia wanted.

She also denigrated a senior military commander, a serious faux pax in Thailand. Even Hun Sen, who by then had turned sharply against the Shinawatras, suggested this criticism was a direct insult to the king, who issues the decrees to appoint generals.

Paetongtarn, from her father’s Pheu Thai party, regretted the language in the call, but insisted it was a negotiating tactic.

But the court on Friday ruled 6-3 that Paetongtarn put her private interests before those of the nation, damaging its reputation and causing a loss of public confidence.

“Due to a personal relationship that appeared aligned with Cambodia, the respondent was consistently willing to comply with or act in accordance with the wishes of the Cambodian side,” the court said in a statement.

Speaking after the verdict, the now-former prime minister urged unity and stability.

“The verdict today caused a change in Thai politics,” she said. “We all have to help, all sides, whether government or opposition, or the people, all of us have to work together to build political stability and to ensure that there won’t be another turning point again.”

Paetongtarn was suspended by the court on July 1 while it considered the petition against her from a group of senators. Phumtham Wechayachai, the caretaker prime minister, will continue in that role until parliament selects a new leader.

Under Thai rules, only five people are eligible for the job. These are the remaining candidates who were put forward by their respective parties before the 2023 election

Chaikasem Nitisiri, 77, is the only candidate left from Paetongtarn and Srettha’s Pheu Thai.

Others include former leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led a coup in 2014, and Anutin Charnvirakul, a deputy premier before he withdrew his party from the governing coalition over the leaked phone call.

With Paetongtarn’s exit, the Shinawatra family’s star is fading. But while Pheu Thai was once the scourge of the establishment elites – seen by many Thais as the puppet masters of politics and the judiciary – it has more recently served as a political buffer against more progressive, and increasingly popular, political parties.

The Move Forward Party actually won the 2023 election, but its leader Pita Limjaroenrat was blocked from forming government. Srettha, from Pheu Thai, was then made prime minister.

Then, the Constitutional Court dissolved Move Forward last year because the party wished to amend the harsh lèse-majesté laws that make it criminal to insult the royal family.

Thaksin this month escaped punishment for his own alleged Lèse-majesté offences from a decade ago, but faces more court action next month.

He rose to power on a tide of populism in 2001, only to be ousted in a coup in 2006. His sister Yingluck Shinawatra was removed as prime minister by the court in 2014, shortly before yet another coup. The elder Shinawatras’ brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat, briefly served as prime minister in 2008, before he too was moved on by the court.

With Reuters.