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A Thai court has dismissed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for appointing to his cabinet a former lawyer who was once jailed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Constitutional Court ruled that Mr Srettha had violated the “rules on ethics” with “the display of defiant behaviour”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 62-year-old Srettha, who has been in power for less than a year, is the third PM in 16 years to be removed by the same court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He will be replaced by an interim leader until Thailand’s parliament convenes to elect a new prime minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m confident in my honesty \u2026 I feel sorry, but I\u2019m not saying I disagree with the ruling,” he said at a press conference shortly after the ruling. The court’s ruling is final and cannot be appealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Srettha’s dismissal means he has now gone the way of so many other parties and administrations in Thailand \u2013 felled by the disproportionate power of the country\u2019s constitutional court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Politics in Thailand is not known for its ethics; bribery is commonplace and ministers with more serious convictions have been allowed to serve in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people in Thailand will see this as a political verdict, though exactly who was pushing for it is not yet clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May the court had accepted a petition filed by some 40 senators asking to remove the PM from his position over his appointment of Pichit Chuenban – who was previously sentenced to six months in jail for attempted bribery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, five of the nine judges ruled that Mr Srettha had indeed violated the ethics of his office by appointing a lawyer who had a criminal conviction to his cabinet, despite him quitting after just 19 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vote for a new prime minister will involve plenty of backroom bargaining, while Thailand struggles to revive its faltering economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopes that the country was now putting the political turmoil, including two military coups that have shaken it for the past two decades, have proved premature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Srettha became prime minister only last August, ending nine years of military-dominated governments in Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His appointment too was the result of a political bargain that froze out the young, reformist Move Forward party, which had won the most seats and votes in last year’s general election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a stunning victory that raised hopes for a fresh start for Thailand but Move Forward was blocked from forming the government by the military-appointed senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The election’s second-biggest winner Pheu Thai then struck a deal with other conservative parties to form a ruling coalition without Move Forward – and Mr Srettha found himself at the helm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n