By Thai Newsroom Reporters
SRETTHA THAVISIN was today (May 23) spared a court-ordered suspension from performing as prime minister amidst an impeachment bid filed against him.
Constitutional Court judges voted 5:4 to not suspend the Pheu Thai-attached prime minister from doing his official duties with immediate effect, pending a court ruling on the severe ethical breaching case earlier lodged by 40 senators against him and former Prime Minister’s Office minister Pichit Chuenban who has recently resigned under pressure.
The judges voted 8:1 to accept the impeachment-seeking petition on grounds of severely violating the constitution and Political Code of Ethics by naming Pichit as one among those ministers in Apr. 30’s cabinet lineup.
The Constitutional Court is largely speculated to spend a few months’ time before delivering a verdict on the case.
The junta-named senators insisted that Srettha had allegedly unpardonably broken the laws despite his having been legally obliged to know of Pichit’s court-proven misconduct as a lawyer who had been allegedly involved in an attempted payoff with two million baht in cash literally put in food bags handed to administrative officials of the Supreme Court whilst defending de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra over a Ratchada land grab lawsuit in 2008.
The former Prime Minister’s Office minister had earlier worked as lawyer on behalf of Thaksin, who is currently a convict on parole without an EM ankle bracelet, and his sister/deposed prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra who had quietly pushed Srettha to power following last year’s general election.
Pichit had been found guilty of involvement in the attempted bribery, tantamount to a contempt of the court, and sentenced at a court order to six months in jail with his lawyer’s licence having been subsequently revoked by the Lawyers Council.
Last year, the former lawyer had been initially named among those members of the original Pheu Thai-led cabinet but his name was finally withdrawn from the list in the wake of contention over his previous performance.
CAPTION:
Srettha Thavisin answering a phone call informing him of the Constitutional Court decision at The Peninsula Tokyo hotel, in Tokyo, today, May 23, 2024. Photos: Naewna.
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