The Constitutional Court of Thailand suspended on Tuesday the Prime Minister Paetongtran Shinawatra of duty pending a case in search of his dismissal, in an important setback for a government under fire on multiple fronts and fighting for his survival.
The Court accepted a request of 36 senators accusing Paetongtarn of dishonesty and violate ethical standards, based on a escape from a sensitive phone call with the influential former leader of Cambodia, Hun Sen, who intended to reduce territorial accumulation and tense accumulation of troops on his border.
The so -called June 15 triggered a domestic fury and has left the coalition of Paetongtran with a thin majority of shaving that a great party abandoned the alliance and accused it of undermining sovereignty, since the protest groups threaten more demonstrations to demand a new government.
Paetongtarn’s battles after only 10 months in office underline an intractable power struggle between the Shinawatra multimillionaire dynasty and an influential establishment backed by the army, a two -decades of a two decades that has seen two military blows and judicial decisions that have demolished multiple parties and prime ministers.
He accepted the decision of the court on Tuesday and apologized for the so -called leaked, during which he realized before Hun Sen and criticized a commander of the Thai army, a red line in a country where the military has a significant influence.
“My true intention in the leaked conversation, my true intention of 100 percent, was to work for the country to maintain our sovereignty and save the lives of all our soldiers,” Paetongtarn told journalists.
Family crisis
It has been a fire baptism for political rookie Paetongtarn, who at 37 was pushed to the center of attention last year as the youngest prime minister in Thailand after the Constitutional Court dismissed the ally Srettha Thavisin for a violation of ethical norms.
Paetongtran, the fourth member of his family to occupy the first place, has been struggling to revive a stuttering economy and stop a strong decrease in popularity, with an opinion survey published on the weekend that shows its approval index that sinks to 9.2pc in June from 30.9 percent in March.
Thai actions. Seti jumped 1.8pc after noon break over the expectations that political uncertainty could lead to more cuts in the interest rates of the Central Bank.
The viceprimer Minister Suriya Juagroongrungkit assumes the caregiver position, while the court decides the case against Paetongtran, which has 15 days to respond and will remain in the cabinet as the new Minister of Culture after a reorganization.
Paetongtran is not alone in his problems, with the influential father of Magnate Thaksin Shinawatra, the driving force behind his government, facing his own legal obstacles in two different courts this month.
Thaksin’s polarizing tycoon appeared at his first hearing in the Criminal Court of Bangkok on Tuesday by charges, insulted the powerful monarchy of Thailand, a serious punishable crime with up to 15 years in prison if he declares himself guilty. Thaksin denies the accusations and has repeatedly promised loyalty to the crown.
The case is derived from a 2015 media interview that Thaksin gave while he was in self -imposed exile, which he returned in 2023 after 15 years abroad to comply with a prison sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power.
Thaksin, 75, dodged the jail and spent six months in detention of the hospital for medical reasons before being discharged on probation in February last year. The Supreme Court will analyze that stay in the hospital this month and could send it back to jail.
