Thai justice suspends the prime minister and corners the Shinawatra

Bangkok, July 1 (EFE).- Thailand's Constitutional Court temporarily suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday while investigating her for an alleged breach of the ethical code following criticism of the Army, amid growing pressure against her government and the influential clan. The court ordered the prime minister to leave her functions as of today and until a final decision is made on her case, as reported in a statement, after accepting a petition filed on June 20 against the leader by about thirty conservative senators. The case stems from a phone call in mid-June between Paetongtarn and former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, close to the Shinawatra family, with the aim of calming recent tensions between the armed forces of both countries, following a clash in a disputed border area in which a Cambodian soldier died. In the audio, which Hun Sen himself posted on his Facebook profile, the Thai woman refers to the veteran Cambodian politician as "uncle", as a sign of respect, while criticizing and calling a Thai commander stationed on the border an "opponent".

A "serious ethical breach"

"I will do everything possible to clarify my true intentions (...) I did it with the will to serve the nation, protect the sovereignty of Thailand, safeguard the lives of soldiers, and promote peace," said the Thai woman today after her suspension, after thousands of people called for her removal in a protest in Bangkok this Saturday. Senators accuse her of committing a "serious ethical breach" for her words against the powerful Thai Army, whose coups in 2006 and 2014 overthrew the governments of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, father and aunt of Paetongtarn. According to the Constitutional Court's statement, Paetongtarn admitted that the conversation is authentic, although she stated that it was a private exchange to ease tensions with Cambodia. Following the suspension, the Thai government will be led on an interim basis by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Suriya Jungrungreangkit. It is unclear whether Paetongtarn will be able to remain in the Cabinet as Minister of Culture, after an Executive reshuffle was confirmed today in which she was to assume the aforementioned portfolio.

A Fragile Reconciliation

The suspension of Shinawatra by the Constitutional Court, of conservative tendency, occurs less than a year after he came to power in August 2024, following the decision of the same court to remove another prime minister linked to the clan, Srettha Thavisin, for a similar complaint from a group of senators. Its, for the moment, temporary outcome calls into question the apparent reconciliation of the Shinawatras with the traditional elites of the Army and the monarchy, as suggested in August 2023 by the return of Thaksin - seen as the power behind the government of his daughter - after 15 years in exile fleeing Justice. Thaksin returned to Thailand on the same day that the party dominated by the Shinawatras, the Pheu Thai, assumed power. The Government was formed after several political maneuvers following the conservative Senate's veto of the leadership of the progressive Avanzar, with a reformist agenda that included the all-powerful monarchy, and which swept the 2023 elections. The return of Thaksin, Thailand's leader between 2001 and 2006 - when he was deposed in a military uprising - was marred by controversy, as he did not go to prison despite being sentenced to a year in jail. In parallel with his daughter's suspension, a Bangkok court began a trial today against Thaksin for lese-majesty, a crime punishable by 3 to 15 years in prison, of which he pleads not guilty. His case stems from an interview he gave in 2015 to a South Korean media outlet, in which he accused the Privy Council of the Royal House, a body that advises the king, of organizing the military uprising that overthrew Yingluck's government (2011-2014) in 2014. The crime of lèse-majesté does not, in principle, include the Private Council of the Royal House, but rather punishes those who "defame, insult or threaten the king, the queen, the heir or the regent". Thai political instability coincides with a moment of economic weakness, amid trade negotiations with Washington and after Bangkok lowered its growth target in May to a range of between 1.3% and 2.3% for 2025. EFE