Thailand's PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra reshuffles cabinet amid political crisis over leaked phone call

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra began a cabinet reshuffle on Monday as a political and judicial crisis sparked by a leaked phone call threatens to sink her government.

The 38-year-old daughter of controversial former PM Thaksin Shinawatra began handing out ministerial posts vacated when her main coalition partner quit last week – a move that nearly took her government down.

Paetongtarn, in office for less than a year, is hanging on by a thread, and on top of the party horse-trading she now faces a Constitutional Court case that could see her barred from office.

She faced calls to quit or call an election last week as critics accused her of undermining the country and insulting the army during the leaked call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which focused on a festering border dispute.

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The conservative Bhumjaithai party quit the governing coalition led by Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party over the call, leaving it with a wafer-thin majority.

But the crisis stabilised as other coalition partners said they would stay, and Pheu Thai secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told AFP on Monday that all 10 remaining parties were sticking with the government.

“None of the other parties are pulling out – the remaining parties are staying united with the government,” Sorawong said.

“The prime minister has discussed the reshuffle with other political leaders.”

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The new cabinet line-up will be finalised by Friday but sources said changes are expected in key positions including the defence ministry as the border row with Cambodia rumbles on.

With the loss of Bhumjaithai, the government can command only a handful more than the 248 votes needed for a majority in parliament, making it deeply vulnerable.

Even if Paetongtarn rides out the parliamentary crisis, a potentially bigger threat is looming in the form of the Constitutional Court.

A group of conservative senators has submitted a petition asking the court to throw Paetongtarn out of office over her conduct in the call with Hun Sen.

The same court sacked Paetongtarn’s predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, in an ethics case in August last year.

Srettha was the latest in a long line of Thai PMs from parties linked to Thaksin to be kicked out of office by court orders or military coups – including Thaksin himself and his sister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Thai politics has endured two decades of chronic instability fuelled by a long-running battle between the military, pro-royalist establishment and parties linked to Thaksin.

While Thaksin, 75, remains popular with his rural base, he is deeply disliked and distrusted by Thailand’s powerful elite.