A Thai court has accepted a petition from a senator accusing the PM of dishonesty and violating ethical standards.
The Thai constitutional court has been suspended from its office by Prime Minister Paetong Tarun Sinawatra.
In a statement, the court said it had accepted petitions from 36 senators accusing Petongan of violating the constitution, unjustified and ethical standards of leaked telephone conversations with Cambodia’s influenced former leader Hun Sen.
The court will decide on a case against Paetongtarn, which has a 15-day response, while Deputy Prime Minister Suriya Juangroogruangkit assumes the role of caretaker.
Paetongtarn will remain in the cabinet as the new Minister of Culture following the cabinet remodeling.
The controversy comes from a call on June 15th with former Cambodia leader Hun Sen, and aims to ease the escalation of border tensions among neighbors.
During the call, 38-year-old Paetongtarn called Hun Sen “uncle” and criticized the Thai Army commander. She apologised and said her remarks were a negotiation tactic.
The leaked call led to domestic rage, leaving the razor-like coalition of paeton-turns with the majority, and it was expected that major parties would abandon the alliance and protest groups would soon seek a vote of no confidence in Parliament as they demand the highest resignation.
Legal danger
The Battle of Paetongtarn highlights the decline in the strength of the Pheu Thai Party, the populist juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra dynasty, after just ten months of power.
Reported from Bangkok, Al Jazeera’s Tony Chen said the case “stakes questions about its impact on democracy.”
“Since the last election two years ago, we have disqualified the party that beat the election and its leader, and now we have taken two prime ministers from the intervening ruling coalition,” he said.
“Tai lacks options. It is very unclear what kind of political crisis Thailand will be once again if it is decided to stop PaetongTan forever and take her out of her post,” Chen said.
It was a baptism of fire for the political beginner Paetontunt. He took power as Thailand’s youngest prime minister and replaced Thretta Tabisin, which the Constitutional Court dismissed for violating ethics by appointing a formerly imprisoned minister.
Paetongtarn’s government is also struggling to revive the stud economy, and her popularity has declined sharply, with opinions from June 19-25 being released over the weekend indicating that she is silent at 9.2% from 30.9% in March.
Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, the patriarch of the 75-year-old family and a billionaire who was twice elected leader in the early 2000s, also faces legal hurdles.
According to his lawyers, the divisive tycoon Thaksin appeared at his first hearing at Bangkok Criminal Court on Tuesday with accusations of shaming Thai powerful monarchy.
Thaksin denied the allegations and repeatedly pledged his loyalty to the crown.
The case stems from an interview given by Thaksin during his voluntary exile in 2015, from which he returned abroad in 2023 15 years later, serving his sentence for profit conflicts and abuse of power.
Thaksin avoided prison and spent six months in hospital custody on medical reasons before being released on parole last February.
The Supreme Court will scrutinise his stay this month and potentially send him back to prison.
