Thailand’s Constitutional Court is set to pass judgment on the future of suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Friday, with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen shortly before a war between the two countries.
If the court decides to sack Paetongtarn, as it did Thailand’s previous prime minister a year ago, the Southeast Asian nation will have no obvious leader to take on the responsibility of governing. The 39-year-old leader has been in power for just a year.
The ruling could potentially trigger political turmoil in the country that is only weeks into a
A nine-judge bench began deliberations at 9:30 a.m. local time (0230 UTC/GMT) and is likely to reveal its decision later in the day.
What is the case against Paetongtarn?
Paetongtarn, the daughter of the controversial billionaire and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was after a petition from 36 senators who accused her of poor ethical standards, dishonesty and failure to stand up for the nation.
At the center of the case is a leaked phone call with former Cambodian ruler and father of the current leader, Hun Sen. In this call, Paetongtarn reportedly addressed Hun as “uncle” while calling a Thai military commander her “opponent.”
They discussed the brewing tensions at the shared border of the two nations
The leak where the Some lawmakers accused Paetongtarn of undermining her country’s military while her main coalition partner walked out in protest, leaving the government hanging by a thread.
In a hearing at the court last week, the tainted leader said she did her best to act in Thailand’s interest.
Meanwhile, tensions between Thailand and Cambodia boiled over in July, leading to days of the which killed over 40 people and displaced around 300,000 people from their homes along the border.
Thailand’s battered history of prime ministers
Paetongtarn is in danger of becoming the fifth prime minister in 17 years to be removed from power by Thailand’s Constitutional Court. Of the six leaders tried in the court, only Paetongtarn’s father has survived a trial.
For over two decades now, Thai politics has been torn between three power centers — the pro-royalist elites, the Thai military and the Shinawatra political dynasty.
“Appointing a new prime minister…will be difficult and may take considerable time,” said Stithorn Thananithichot, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University. “It’s not easy for all parties to align their interests.”
Edited by Sean Sinico
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