Thailand’s Supreme Court on Wednesday removed Prime Minister Shretha Thavisin from office on charges of violating ethical values. The court had ordered the dissolution of the main opposition party a week ago. After these two developments, there has been a stir in Thai politics. PM Sreetha included in his cabinet the appointment of a member who was jailed for allegedly attempting to bribe a court official. Considering this step of Shretha Thavisin as a violation of morality, the Constitutional Court convicted her and removed her from the post of Prime Minister.
A nine-judge constitutional bench gave its verdict against Shretha with a divided vote of 5:4. Until Parliament approves the new Prime Minister’s assumption of office, the current cabinet will remain on a caretaker basis. The court has not set any time limit for the Parliament to choose the new Prime Minister. In a cabinet reshuffle in April, Shretha Thavisin appointed Pichit Chuenban as Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office.
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Pichit was jailed for 6 months in 2008 for contempt of court when he allegedly bribed a judge in a grocery bag with 2 million Thai baht ($55,000) in cash in a case involving former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. had tried. When controversy erupted over Pichit’s appointment as a minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, he resigned a few weeks after assuming the post.
The court said that although Pichit had already served a prison sentence for his crime, his behavior was dishonest as per the Supreme Court’s decision. The court ruled that as Prime Minister, Shretha Thawisin had the responsibility to inquire about the personal history and qualifications of someone before including her in her cabinet. The Supreme Court said in its decision that PM Shretha knew about Pichit Chuenban’s past yet included him in his cabinet. Therefore, we have come to the decision that he has violated the Code of Ethics.