The Thai Constitutional Court yesterday accepted a petition by a group of senators seeking to remove Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on ethical grounds, but allowed him to perform his duties until it ruled on the case.
The court is to scrutinize the plea by 40 Thai senators that Srettha’s decision to appoint Pichit Chuenban as a Cabinet minister last month had constituted a serious violation of ethical standards under the constitution, the court said in a statement.
The court voted six to three to accept the petition for consideration whether Srettha should be removed from duties, while voting five to four against suspending his duties in the meantime. It gave Srettha 15 days to submit his defense from when he is formally notified of the court decision.
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A former lawyer for the influential Shinawatra family, Pichit was appointed as a minister attached to the prime minister’s office in a reshuffle last month, but lacked the qualifications required to take up such a post, the group of senators said.
Pichit on Tuesday resigned as minister, saying he wanted to save Srettha from any legal troubles.
The resignation acquitted him of further scrutiny in the case, the court said.
Pichit was sentenced to six months in jail in 2008 for contempt of court after he attempted to bribe Thai Supreme Court officials while representing former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during a corruption trial.
The move poses a fresh challenge for Srettha’s coalition government that was cobbled together with a group of pro-royalist parties after the military-appointed Thai Senate thwarted the winner of last year’s general election from taking power. The prime minister has struggled to pull Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy from a decade of sub-2 percent annual growth rates.
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