bangkok Thailand’s Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday. The apex court decided to review the tenure of the prime minister for eight years. According to the news agency Reuters, the court announced this in a statement sent to the media. It is not yet clear when the court will give its final verdict on the petition filed by the main opposition party.
The opposition said in its petition that his term as head of the military junta should count towards the constitutionally mandated eight-year term of prime minister. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Ongsuwan may take over as interim prime minister in Prayuth’s place.
Former army chief Prayuth took power in 2014 in a rebellion against an elected government. After that, he was elected as the Prime Minister in the 2019 elections. These elections were held according to the draft constitution prepared by the then military government.
Thailand has witnessed intermittent political unrest for two decades. This is the latest development. These two decades have seen two coups and violent protests. General elections are scheduled to be held in the country by next May.
Prayut Chan-Ocha had previously faced a no-confidence vote in May. But he won the vote of no confidence. The polling was held after four days of debate on the 10 members of the cabinet. Prayut got 256 votes, 206 votes against him. At the same time nine MPs were absent from the polls.
The opposition blamed the late government’s economic mismanagement for the growing public debt and failure to control corruption. Thanks to the current coalition government’s majority in parliament, 10 cabinet ministers also survived. Cholanan Srikao, head of the main opposition Phu Thai Party, said the results were disappointing because they did not reflect public sentiment.
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Tag: court, Thailand
First Published: August 24, 2022, 14:12 IST
