Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended the prime minister from his duties on Wednesday (24) while it decides whether the man who led a military coup in 2014 has violated the country’s term limits, potentially opening a new chapter of turmoil in the nation’s troubled politics.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s removal is likely to only be temporary since the court has generally ruled in the government’s favor in a slew of political cases.
Any decision to allow the general to stay on risks invigorating a protest movement that has long sought to oust him and reopening deep fissures in Thailand, which has been rocked by repeated bursts of political chaos since a coup toppled then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.
Since then, Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire whose populist appeal threatened the traditional power structure, has remained at the center of the country’s politics, as his supporters and opponents fought for power both at the ballot box and in the streets, sometimes violently. The 2014 takeover ousted his sister from power.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, a close political ally of Prayuth and part of the same military clique that that staged the coup, will take over as acting prime minister, a spokesman for the prime minister’s office said Wednesday. Anucha Burapachaisri added that Prayuth would respect the court’s decision and called on others to do the same.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com
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