The court said Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin had grossly breached rules on ethics. - Photo: EPA-EFE
BANGKOK: Thailand’s Parliament will convene on Friday (Aug 16) for a special meeting to choose a new prime minister, the legislature announced on its website, following the court’s dismissal of Srettha Thavisin as premier.
According to parliamentary rules, a candidate nominated for prime minister must win support of more than half of the Lower House, which currently has 493 members.
The vote will take place at 11am on Aug 16, with the ruling coalition due to meet to choose its candidate on Aug 15, reported AFP.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Aug 14 dismissed Prime Minister Srettha for “grossly” violating ethics by appointing a minister who had served jail time, raising the spectre of political upheaval and a shake-up in the governing alliance.
Real estate tycoon Srettha became the fourth Thai premier in 16 years to be removed by verdicts by the court, after its judges ruled 5-4 in favour of dismissing him for failing to perform his duty with integrity.
Srettha’s removal after less than a year in power means Parliament must convene to choose a new premier, with the prospect of more uncertainty in a country dogged for two decades by coups and court rulings that have brought down multiple governments and political parties.
“The court has found 5-4 that the accused is terminated as prime minister due to his lack of honesty,” the judges said, adding that his behaviour “grossly breached ethical standards”.
The ruling underlines the central role Thailand’s judiciary has played in politics, with the same court last week dissolving the anti-establishment Move Forward Party, after ruling that its campaign to reform a law against insulting the crown risked undermining the constitutional monarchy.
Move Forward’s surviving lawmakers regrouped on Aug 6 under a new party, Prachachon. The party will be referred to as People’s Party in English.
The Aug 14 court decision comes at a tricky time for an economy that Srettha has struggled to jump-start, with weak exports and consumer spending, sky-high household debt, and more than a million small businesses unable to access loans.
“It’s a negative surprise. It is a direct risk to the economy,” said Nuttachart Mekmasin, a strategist at Trinity Securities, outlining key policies including a 500 billion baht (S$18.8 billion) cash handout plan may be stalled.
“Consumer and business confidence will be affected,” he said, “Spending and investment will slow down until the next government is formed.”
The government has estimated growth of just 2.7 per cent for 2024, lagging regional peers, while Thailand has been Asia’s worst-performing markets.
The index slipped 1.29 per cent after the court decision, before recovering to close 0.4 per cent down.
Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party and its predecessors have borne the brunt of Thailand’s turmoil, with two of its governments removed by coups in a long-running grudge match between the party’s founders, the billionaire Shinawatra family, and their rivals in the conservative establishment and royalist military.
“I am saddened to leave as a prime minister who was found to be unethical,” Srettha told reporters at Government House. “I performed my duties with integrity and honesty.”
Deputy Premier Phumtham Wechayachai is expected to take over as caretaker prime minister.
The ruling could rock a fragile truce between political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra and his enemies among the conservative elite and military old guard, which enabled the tycoon’s return from 15 years of self-exile in 2023 and ally Srettha to become premier the same day.
Srettha had maintained that his appointment of former Shinawatra lawyer Pichit Chuenban, who was briefly imprisoned for contempt of court in 2008 over an alleged attempt to bribe court staff, was above board.
The bribery allegation was never proven, and Pichit resigned in May.
According to some political experts, it is likely that Pheu Thai would still have the clout to lead the next administration, after a period of horse-trading and uncertainty over who will be in charge.
“The coalition remains united,” said Burapha University’s Faculty of Political Science and Law deputy dean Olarn Thinbangtieo. “There may be some impact on confidence, but that would be in the short term.”
The next premier would need to have been nominated a prime ministerial candidate by their parties prior to the 2023 election, with Thaksin’s 37-year-old daughter and party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra among Pheu Thai’s options.
If successful, she would be Thailand’s third Shinawatra premier after Thaksin and her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra.
Other potential candidates include Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga and Prawit Wongsuwan, an influential former army chief who was involved in the last two coups. - Reuters, AFP
