Thailand: Constitutional Court suspends Prime Minister

Published on: 08/24/2022 – 10:31 The Thai Constitutional Court on Wednesday suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha while it investigates a case that could lead to its removal from office. A political earthquake a few months before the general elections. A political crisis a few months before the elections. Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday (August 24th) decided to suspend Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, while it determines whether he can stay beyond the eight-year limit in power set by the Constitution. This instance may take several weeks to resolve this legal knot which has put tension in the capital Bangkok, where demonstrations took place on Tuesday. General elections are expected for next March. Opposition MPs, teachers, student unions… Many voices have been raised to demand the departure of Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who they say has reached the eight-year limit. in office fixed in the Constitution of 2017.>> To review: “In Thailand, with the demonstrators who challenge the power and the monarchy”Nevertheless, two different interpretations could allow the former general (68 years old), approved by the king on August 24, 2014 following a coup d’etat, to stay until 2025 or 2027. “Let the Constitutional Court decide”, limited himself to saying the person concerned who dodged questions on this burning subject in recent days. The Constitutional Court officially started its examination on Wednesday. She voted five to four judges to suspend the prime minister, as demanded by opposition MPs behind the seizure. Deputy Prime Minister and number two in the government Prawit Wongsuwan, 77, is to serve as interim prime minister. “In the event of suspension, Prawit Wongsuwan will serve as interim prime minister, and Prayut Chan-O-Chan will continue as defense minister, a position he currently holds,” it said on Tuesday. to the press Wissanu Krea-ngam, also deputy prime minister – there are six. General elections in early 2023 If the announcement of this suspension is a surprise, experts interviewed by AFP expect to see the Court decide along the lines of Prayut Chan-O-Cha who has withstood every crisis since 2014, including the massive pro-democracy protests of 2020.”The long list of one-sided decisions that have benefited Prayut Chan-O-Cha speaks of itself (…) The most likely scenario The thing is that he limps along until the end of his term, beyond the eight-year limit,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. , the 2017 Constitution, drafted under the military junta and considered favorable to the interests of the army. . Another even takes as its starting point 2019, the year of the legislative elections which legitimized his power. Since Tuesday, containers deposited by the authorities have blocked the road leading to the government house in Bangkok, where more than a hundred people demanded the departure of the Prime Minister. The suspension could reshuffle the cards in view of the general elections scheduled for early 2023. A former general like Prayut Chan-O-Cha, to whom he is very close, Prawit Wongsuwan is also the leader of the Palang Pracharat, the main party in power. He was overtaken in 2018 by a scandal which revealed more than one million euros of undeclared luxury watches in his heritage. He was later cleared of suspicions of corruption. One of his main files will be the preparation of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok, on November 18 and 19. With AFP