The constitution court of Thailand today temporarily suspended prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha over allegations that he has continued in the post after the expiry of his term. The court ruled that the PM will remain suspended till it probes the allegation.
Opposition MPs had approached the court alleging that Prayuth should have resigned from his office as he has spent eight years in power. According to the constitution of Thailand, prime ministers can’t be on post for more than eight years. Prayuth Chan-ocha had become the prime minister following a coup in 2014, and therefore eight years have passed since then.
The former army chief had seized power in the 2014 military coup and then was re-elected in 2019 in a heavily restricted election. As the military leader, Prayuth had seized power in May 2014 after the coup and in August 2014, he had appointed himself the prime minister of the new military government. Therefore, opposition argues that his term as the PM started in August 2014 and it ended this week.
“The court considered the petition and supporting documents and deems the facts according to the request indicate reasonable grounds to suspect that there is a case as requested,” the court said in the judgement. It added that Prayuth is suspended as prime minister, effective 24 August 2022, by a majority vote of four out of five, until the court issues a final verdict.
Prayuth has been given 15 days to respond to the petition.
Deputy Prime Minster Prawit Wongsuwan will be the interim head of the govt for the time being. Wongsuwan is also a former army chief and a close aide of Prayuth.
Rejecting the claim of the opposition, the suspended PM and his supporters claim that his term has not ended as because the new constitution came into force only in 2017, and therefore his term as PM began in 2017. Some even claim that his term should be counted from 2019, when he had won an election and was re-elected to office.
If the court rules in Prayuth’s favour, he could stay in the office till 2025 or even 2027, while the next general elections in Thailand are scheduled for next year. However, polls show that majority of the people in the country want him to leave office, and protests against the PM as growing over various including his handling of the economy.
