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Ethics probe into Thai PM Srettha ‘show of force’ by country’s old powers: analysts
- Move against Srettha Thavisin highlights deep-seated political rivalries, experts say
- The prime minister faces potential removal if the Constitutional Court finds his appointment of Pichit Chuenban breached ethics rules
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The decision by Thailand’s Constitutional Court to launch an ethics probe into Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, which could see him removed from office over a disputed cabinet appointment, is a “show of force” from old powers accustomed to leveraging the judiciary against civilian administrations, experts say.
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The petition against Srettha, accepted by the court on Thursday, was filed by forty conservative senators from the outgoing upper house over his appointment of Pichit Chuenban as minister of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 on contempt of court charges after he attempted to bribe a judge presiding over former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s land purchase case with 2 million baht ($55,000) in a grocery bag.
The petition alleged his appointment breached Section 160 of the constitution, which stipulates ministers must be “of evident integrity” and blocks those who fail to meet the grade.
Pichit resigned from his post on Tuesday, after barely three weeks on the job, in order to head-off the legal drama that has now engulfed the prime minister, whose administration has been hit by a slew of resignations and has riled sections of the public with a policy U-turn on cannabis as well as very public rows with the central bank over a handout scheme.
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