Thai court removes PM Srettha Thavisin over ethics breach. What happens next?

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is out.

The country’s Constitutional Court has removed Srettha from his post for an ethics violation.

The Constitutional Court voted 5:4 against Srettha, who has been removed from office immediately.

The development comes just a week after the court banned the country’s most popular politician Pita Limjaroenrat from holding office for 10 years and dissolved the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP).

But why has Srettha been removed? And what happens next?

Let’s take a closer look:

What happened?

Srettha was dismissed after appointing a Cabinet member who was briefly imprisoned over an alleged attempt to bribe a court official.

Srettha had in April appointed Pichit Chuenban as a minister of the Prime Minister’s Office in a Cabinet reshuffle.

Pichit in 2008 was sentenced to jail for six months over contempt of court charges.

Pichit had allegedly attempted to bribe a judge with $55,000 in cash in a grocery bag over a case involving former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin, a wealthy politician, is the former owner of Manchester City, as per The Times of India.

Pichit resigned from the Cabinet weeks after the controversy returned to the spotlight

The court said that although Pichit has already served his jail term, his behaviour — as ruled by the Supreme Court — was dishonest.

Srettha as prime minister has sole responsibility for vetting the qualifications of his Cabinet nominations, the court ruled. It said he knew about Pichit’s past but still nominated him, and therefore they ruled that he violated the ethics codes.

“The court rules by a majority of five to four that the ministerial position of the prime minister is terminated under the constitution, because he has not shown honesty in appointing this minister,” Judge Punya Udchachon was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

“The appointment of the second respondent (Pichit) shows the first respondent (Srettha) has no honesty and breached ethical standards,” Punya added.

Srettha had claimed that his appointment of former Shinawatra lawyer Pichit was above board.

The bribery allegation was never proven.

Srettha said he ‘respected the court’s decision’ but added that he could not have ‘anticipated this,’ as per The Times of India.

The petition against Srettha was initiated by former members of the military-installed Senate who had refused to approve Move Forward’s prime ministerial candidate when the party was attempting to form a government after its election victory.

The petition against Srettha was seen as a move favouring a pro-military political party in his coalition government.

Thailand’s courts, especially the Constitutional Court, are considered a bulwark of the country’s royalist establishment, which has used them and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to issue rulings to cripple or sink political opponents.

Srettha became prime minister in August last year, despite his Pheu Thai party finishing second in the general election. After Move Forward was denied power by the Senate whose term ended in May, Pheu Thai — then the biggest partner of Move Forward — excluded it from the coalition and joined hands with parties affiliated with the previous military-controlled government to gather enough support from other parties and the Senate to approve a new prime minister.

Srettha, a real estate tycoon, is the fourth Thai premier in 16 years to be removed by verdicts by the same court.

Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party and its predecessors have borne the brunt of Thailand’s turmoil, with two of its governments removed by coups in a long-running grudge match between the party’s founders, the billionaire Shinawatra family, and their rivals in the conservative establishment and royalist military.

The decision could rock a fragile truce between political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra and his enemies among the conservative elite and military old guard, which enabled the tycoon’s return from 15 years of self-exile in 2023 and ally Srettha to become premier the same day.

The Constitutional Court last week ordered the dissolution of the progressive Move Forward Party — which won the most seats in the 2023 election but failed to take power — over an accusation that the party violated the constitution by proposing an amendment to a law against defaming the country’s royal family. The party has already regrouped as the People’s Party.

What happens next?

Srettha’s removal after less than a year in power means parliament must convene to choose a new premier, with the prospect of more uncertainty in a country dogged for two decades by coups and court rulings that have brought down multiple governments and political parties.

Thailand’s Cabinet will take on a caretaker role with Commerce Minister and deputy premier Phumtham Wechayachai becoming acting prime minister.

The parties must decide who they will nominate and vote for as the next premier based on a list of candidates that was submitted prior to the 2023 poll.

It is expected not all candidates would be put forward, with horse-trading likely to take place between parties in return for Cabinet positions.

The house speaker will convene parliament for the lower house to vote for the next prime minister.

There are no rules specifying when parliament must convene to hold the vote.

To become prime minister, a candidate needs the backing of more than half of the lower house’s current 493 lawmakers, or 247 votes.

If they fall short, the house must convene again later and repeat the voting process, with a chance for other candidates to be nominated.

The 11-party coalition government has 314 seats in the lower house. The new premier must appoint a Cabinet, which then must present its policies to parliament before it can start governing.

Who could become PM?

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, daughter of the billionaire figurehead of the Pheu Thai Party, Thaksin Shinawatra, is in the running.

Paetongtarn, who is also party leader, would be Thailand’s third Shinawatra premier after Thaksin and her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Chaikasem Nitisiri, former justice minister and Pheu Thai party stalwart and Anutin Charnvirakul, Interior Minister and deputy premier who successfully pushed for the liberalisation of cannabis in Thailand could also take over next.

Anutin is leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, the second-largest partner in the coalition government.

Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, a former justice minister who heads of the conservative Thai Raksa Chart party, is another possibility.

Prawit Wongsuwan, the influential former army chief who leads the conservative and military-aligned Palang Pracharat Party, is a contender.

Prawit, a notorious political deal-maker, was involved in the last two coups against Shinawatra governments.

Experts say that the advantage remains with the Pheu Thai party.

The coalition remains united," said Olarn Thinbangtieo, deputy dean of Burapha University’s Faculty of Political Science and Law.

“There may be some impact on confidence, but that would be in the short term.”

The court decision comes at a tricky time for an economy that Srettha struggled to jumpstart, with weak exports and consumer spending, sky-high household debt and more than a million small businesses unable to access loans.

The government has estimated growth of just 2.7 per cent for 2024, lagging regional peers, while Thailand has been Asia’s worst-performing market this year with its main stock index (SETI), opens new tab down about 17 per cent year-to-date

With inputs from agencies