Thai court accepts complaint seeking PM Srettha’s removal over Cabinet appointment

BANGKOK - Thailand’s Constitutional Court on May 23 accepted a complaint seeking to remove Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office for giving a ministerial position to a former lawyer with a criminal conviction.

The decision comes after three ministers quit in recent weeks, as the government battles to jump-start an underperforming economy and find funds to deliver on a delayed election promise of cash handouts for 50 million people.

The court chose not to suspend Mr Srettha from duty pending a verdict, as was sought by 40 senators who had complained that Mr Pichit Chuenban fell short of moral and ethical standards for ministers set out in the Constitution.

Mr Srettha has 15 days to file his defence in court.

“I did everything sincerely and am ready to answer any query,” he told reporters while overseas in Japan after the decision.

“This government prioritises the people’s well-being, while investigations are normal.”

Mr Pichit’s qualifications prior to becoming a minister in the prime minister’s office had been carefully vetted and the appointment was in line with the law, he added.

For decades a close aide of the politically influential Shinawatra family, Mr Pichit resigned on May 21 in an effort to insulate Mr Srettha from the court case.

Mr Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 for contempt of court after an alleged attempt to bribe court officials with two million baht (S$74,000) hidden in a paper grocery bag. His law licence was suspended for five years after the incident.

Influential clients

As a lawyer he fought, and lost, big court cases against former premiers Yingluck Shinawatra and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin is a close ally of Mr Srettha and founder of his ruling Pheu Thai party which, together with its predecessors, has won all but one Thai election since 2001.

The court gave no timeframe for a decision in the case.

If it dismisses Mr Srettha, a new government must be formed and Pheu Thai would need to put forward a new candidate for premier to be voted on by a Parliament in which it is not the biggest party.

Mr Srettha, a real estate mogul, was elected by the legislature in August 2023 after weeks of political deadlock, following a deal with parties and lawmakers allied with the royalist military, which staged coups against Shinawatra-backed governments in 2006 and 2014.

Government critics say Mr Pichit got the job thanks to his close ties with Thaksin. The tycoon still holds significant sway in politics, despite officially being retired and having spent 15 years in self-imposed exile until

his return in 2023.

The government said Mr Pichit had been picked because of his suitability for the ministerial role in the premier’s office. 

Thaksin, who was convicted of conflicts of interest and abuse of power and was released from detention on parole in February, will learn next week if he is to be prosecuted for an alleged insult to the powerful monarchy.

He has denied wrongdoing in the case over comments made in an interview a decade ago. REUTERS