The Thai Constitutional Court yesterday removed Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office over an ethics violation.
The court ruled on a case involving Srettha’s appointment of a Cabinet member who had been imprisoned in connection with an attempt to bribe a court official.
The court voted 5-4 against Srettha and the ruling removed him from office immediately.
Photo: Reuters
Srettha, speaking at Government House shortly after the verdict, thanked the judges for giving him the opportunity to defend himself.
He said he respected the ruling and that he always sought to act ethically during his time in office.
“I’m sorry that I’d be considered as a prime minister who’s unethical, but that’s not who I am,” he said.
The Cabinet is to remain in place on a caretaker basis until parliament approves a new prime minister. There is no time limit for parliament to fill the position. The caretaker Cabinet could also dissolve parliament and call a new election.
The acting prime minister is expected to be Phumtham Wechayachai of the Pheu Thai Party. Phumtham was first deputy prime minister and minister of commerce under Srettha.
If parliament is given the task of choosing a new prime minister, it can select from a roster of candidates nominated for the post last year by the major political parties.
The Pheu Thai Party, to which Srettha belongs, has two eligible candidates, including Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Another frontrunner would be Anutin Charnvirakul, head of the Bhumjaithai Party, which ran third in last year’s election.
He is a deputy prime minister and minister of the interior.
Anutin, a powerbroker in the vote-rich northeast whose family owns a major construction group, has served in a military-backed government and the civilian one that it replaced.
Also in the running would be two former senior military officers: former prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Prawit Wongsuwan, who was one of Prayuth’s deputy prime ministers.
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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