‘Big shock’: Thailand faces political upheaval as PM removed from office
Al Jazeera
Thailand’s constitutional court made its second bombshell ruling in a week as it ousted Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
With the removal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office by a court ruling after less than a year in power, Thailand has been thrown into political turmoil once again.
Reading the constitutional court’s decision on Wednesday, judge Punya Udchachon, said the judges ruled 5-4 in favour of dismissing Srettha of the Pheu Thai Party, as he had shown “no honesty and breached ethical standards” by appointing someone with a criminal conviction to his cabinet.
Udchachon said the real estate tycoon had failed to perform his duty with integrity and “grossly” violated ethics as he must have known about former lawyer Pichit Chuenban’s criminal record when he appointed him as a minister in his office in a cabinet reshuffle in April.
Pichit, who was jailed for six months in 2008 for attempting to bribe court officials with 2 million baht ($55,218) placed in a paper grocery bag, resigned from the post in May in an attempt to protect Srettha.
But that month, constitutional court judges voted 6-3 to accept a petition submitted by 40 senators to remove Srettha from office. Wednesday’s ruling came at the end of their investigation into the allegations.
