Thailand's constitutional court removes prime minster over 'moral and ethical' violations

Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was removed from office on Wednesday on cronyism charges, less than a year after he was installed, by the country's powerful consitutional court.

In a 5-4 vote, the judges ruled Srettha's appointment to his cabinet of a close associate of his main backer, telecoms billionaire and former populist prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra , breached the moral and ethical standards set out in the constitution.

The court has removed two other prime ministers since 2008.

Srettha's downfall came three months after about 40 unelected senators petitioned the court to dismiss him for selecting as the head of his cabinet office former Thaksin lawyer Pichit Chuenban over a 2008 conviction for attempted bribery.

His removal will be seen as a strong signal to Thaksin -- long viewed as a threat by the country's royal-military duopoly -- that his bid to reclaim his seat at the top table of power in South East Asia's second-largest economy is going to be anything but plain sailing.

Srettha, a 62-year-old billionaire real-estate developer, told reporters that he accepted the decision but insisted he had not acted with dishonesty.

"This chapter has ended as the constitutional court has decided," said Srettha whose interim replacement will be Phumtham Wechayachai, one of his deputies, pending the election of a new prime minister by parliament.

Strettha was installed in place of the real winner of last year's election, Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, who was blocked from becoming prime minister by the military-appointed senate. The court's decision to now remove Strettha may further alienate ordinary Thais, reinforcing a growing belief all political power ultimately lies with the establishment, regardless of who people vote for.

The constitutional court finalized the effective coup against Pita's reformist party, by dissolving it on Aug. 7 and imposing decade-long political ban on 11 of its leaders for manifesto pledges to reform tough royal defamation laws that the court ruled breached the constitution.

The frontrunners to replace Srettha are Anutin Charnvirakul, a deputy prime minister, and Thaksin's youngest daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra.