The judges ruled 5-4 that Srettha Thavisin breached regulations by appointing a lawyer with a criminal conviction to his cabinet. ‘I respect the verdict,’ said Srettha.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office on Wednesday, August 14, ruling against him in an ethics case that has thrown the kingdom into fresh political turmoil. The judges ruled 5-4 that Srettha breached regulations by appointing a lawyer with a criminal conviction to his cabinet, in a case brought by a group of former senators appointed by Thailand’s former ruling junta. 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.
“The court rules by a majority of five to four that the ministerial position of the prime minister is terminated under the constitution because he has not shown honesty in appointing this minister,” Judge Punya Udchachon said in reading the court’s judgment. Punya said that Srettha must have known about lawyer Pichit Chuenban’s 2008 conviction when he appointed him to the cabinet. “The appointment of the second respondent [Pichit] shows the first respondent [Srettha] has no honesty and breached ethical standards,” Punya added.
