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| Ms Yingluck |
Jonathan Head
BBC News, Bangkok
The judges gave a lengthy justification for their verdict, but
it will inevitably be seen as political intervention by people on both sides of
Thailand's divide. The government's supporters had already stated they would
view the verdict as a judicial coup, and reason enough to mobilise against it.
There was, predictably, jubilation in the camps of the
anti-government protesters in Bangkok. But they did not get everything they
wanted.
The judges stopped short of holding the entire cabinet
responsible for transferring the national security adviser. Only nine
ministers, directly involved in approving the transfer, have been ordered to
resign. So the cabinet survives, although still only in a caretaker role, until
another general election can be held.
The government wants that on 20 July. But the opposition
Democrat party is likely to repeat its boycott, and the protesters it now
allies itself to are sure to obstruct it.
Nor are the government's many powerful opponents likely to give
up trying to depose it. There are more legal cases pending against ministers,
and the partly-appointed Senate is still sitting, and may explore other means
of disabling Ms Yingluck's party.
Thai Political Crisis
BANGKOK — A day after a court removed prime minister Yingluck
Shinawatra from power, Thailand was mired in a political crisis on Thursday as
an anticorruption body ruled that she should face impeachment proceedings….read>>
Anti-government protests have been
ongoing in Thailand since November 2013, aimed at removing the influenceof
former prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra from Thai politics….read>>
Since 2008, there has been an ongoing
political crisis in Thailand in form of a conflict between the People's
Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and the People's
Power Party (PPP) governments of Prime Ministers Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat,
respectively, and later between the Democrat
Party government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the National United
Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD)...read>>
Analysts have warned for months about the
risks of Thailand’s political impasse dragging on. So it’s little surprise that
they reacted with a renewed sense of alarm after the country’s Constitutional
Court on Wednesday removed Prime
Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from
office.Uneasy lies the head - THE political mess has reached the point where it may have to be the king, not parliament, who appoints the next prime minister. Since Thailand’s revolution of 1932, nine prime ministers have been removed from office by coup d’état and two others by court order…read>>
Ousting of Thai PM: Your views
A
Thai court has ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and several cabinet
ministers to step down.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Ms Yingluck acted
illegally when she transferred her national security head.
The ruling follows months of political deadlock. Anti-government
protesters have been trying to oust Ms Yingluck since November 2013.
The remaining cabinet members have nominated the commerce
minister to replace Ms Yingluck.
'Cannot stay'
Ms Yingluck had been accused of abuse of power in improperly
transferring Thawil Pliensri, her national security chief appointed by the
opposition-led administration, in 2011.
Appearing in court on Tuesday, she had rejected the suggestion
that her party had benefited from the move.
But the court ruled against her, saying a relative had gained
from the transfer.
"The prime minister's status has ended, Yingluck can no
longer stay in her position acting as caretaker prime minister," a judge
said in a statement.
In a press conference after the court ruling, Ms Yingluck
thanked her followers for their support over the past two years, pointing out
that she was democratically elected.
"We held true to the principles of honesty in running the
country, and never acted corruptly, as we were accused," she told
reporters.
The ruling also ousted nine cabinet members who the court said
were complicit in the transfer.
An adviser to the prime minister, Nopaddon Pattama, said the
court's decision was binding.
"She
really has no choice but to be bound by the decision because the constitution
says the judgement of the court is binding on all parties, although we are
going to make a political protest."
He said remaining cabinet members would continue
performing their duties until a new cabinet was formed.
Earlier this month, the ruling party called a general
election for July, after the snap election held in February was ruled invalid
by the courts.
"We have to focus on the general election so that the
Thai people can determine their own future," he said.
The deputy leader of the opposition Democratic Party (PDRT),
Kiat Sittheeamamorn, said the court decision would not end the political
crisis.
His party maintained that political reform was needed before an
election could be held, he said. "So the differences are still there and
we have to see what will unfold in the next few days."
Thailand’s troubles
Sep 2006: Army ousts Thaksin Shinawatra
Dec 2007: Pro-Thaksin party wins election
Aug 2008: Thaksin flees Thailand
Dec 2008: Huge anti-Thaksin protests; court
bans ruling party; Abhisit Vejjajiva comes to power
Mar-May 2010: Huge pro-Thaksin protests; more than
90 killed over 10-week period
Jul 2011: Yingluck Shinawatra elected PM
Nov 2013: Anti-government protests
Feb 2014: Snap election held, but protesters disrupt polls;
court rules polls invalid
May 2014: PM ordered to step down
Power struggle
The court move could trigger protests by supporters of the
government, which remains very popular in rural areas.
Anti-government protests began in the Thai capital late last
year, with demonstrators blockading several parts of the city.
In response, Ms Yingluck called a snap general election in
February that her party was widely expected to win. But the protesters
disrupted the polls and the election was later annulled.
Ms Yingluck's supporters believe that the courts are biased
against her and side with the urban elite at the heart of the protest movement.
Thailand has faced a power struggle since Ms Yingluck's brother,
Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by the military as prime minister in a 2006
coup.
Mr
Thaksin and his family are hated by an urban and middle-class elite who accuse
them of corruption and abuse of power.
But Mr Thaksin's policies won him huge support in rural
areas, and both the elections since the coup have returned Thaksin-allied
governments to power.
Court rulings have in the past been a key factor amid
political turbulence in Thailand.
In December 2008, a government of Mr Thaksin's allies fell
from power after a court disbanded their political party for electoral fraud,
allowing the opposition to form a government.
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