Thai court to rule on Aug 29 whether to disqualify suspended PM Paetongtarn

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Constitutional Court will rule on Aug 29 whether Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, previously suspended from duty, should be disqualified for allegedly violating ethical standards in her handling of a border dispute with Cambodia.

The court will read out the verdict at 3pm, it said in a statement on Aug 13.

The court previously suspended Ms Paetongtarn from office on July 1 until it ruled on the case.

The case stems from a complaint lodged by a group of senators around comments Ms Paetongtarn made in a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen about a border stand-off.

In the call, Ms Paetongtarn was heard

blaming the Thai army

for escalating tensions by restricting border checkpoints, which sparked protests in Thailand and calls for her to resign. She

later apologised

for the remarks.

If found guilty, Ms Paetongtarn will be permanently removed from office, a development that is set to deepen an ongoing political crisis in Thailand.

A leadership vacuum will also come at a critical time for national security as the country seeks to maintain a fragile ceasefire and resolve the

border conflict with Cambodia

through bilateral dialogue.

The verdict on Ms Paetongtarn will come at a politically sensitive moment for the Shinawatra family, which leads the ruling Pheu Thai party.

Her father, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, is scheduled to face a ruling on Aug 22 in a nearly decade-old royal defamation case that could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years. BLOOMBERG