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The string of term limits has left the Thai prime minister facing calls for his resignation

#string #term #limits #left #Thai #prime #minister #facing #calls #resignation

A legal showdown that could topple embattled Thai Prime Minister Prayut Cha-O-Cha reaches the country’s Constitutional Court this week, threatening fresh political turmoil in the kingdom just months before national elections.

The former general has clung to office despite major anti-government protests in 2020, a bleeding pandemic, a flagging economy and numerous political near misses – but now the very constitution he oversaw drafting is being used against him.

Opponents of the 68-year-old – who took control in a coup – are agitating for his ouster under rules that limit a prime minister to a maximum of eight years in office, a threshold he says will be reached on Wednesday.

Although the outcome is uncertain, many observers believe the court will rule in Prayut’s favor.

Prayut’s opponents say his tenure began when he took power in May 2014, the latest of more than a dozen military coups that have turned Thai politics upside down since the birth of democracy in 1932.

But supporters say he has been prime minister since 2017 – when the current army-drafted constitution was implemented – or 2019, when he controversially won much-delayed national polls.

Opposition parties have asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the end of Prayut’s term and judges are expected to say on Wednesday whether they will consider the case.

If it accepts the case, the court could remove Prayut from office.

The former general – who has held on to power with a tenacity expected by few – seems unfazed by the recent drama.

“Let the court decide,” he told opponents, before appearing before parliament and showing confused reporters a “rock up” hand signal.

The court has played a key role at key moments in the upheaval that has rocked Thai politics over the past 20 years, annulling the results of the 2006 and 2014 general elections.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of Prayut,” Napisa Waitoolkiat, a political scientist at Naresuan University, told AFP.

Such a much-awaited decision could see him remain prime minister until 2025 or 2027 – if he and his Palang Pracharat party can win re-election.

– standstill –

The kingdom is posting one of the lowest growth rates in the region, with the resumption of international tourism struggling to pull the economy out of the doldrums.

“Uncle Tu,” as Prayut is known, has never enjoyed widespread popularity, and Thailand’s years of economic crisis have only fueled public feelings of stagnation.

Earlier this year, the kingdom’s royalist military elite was shocked when Chadchart Sittipunt, an ex-minister of the opposition Pheu Thai party, won a landslide gubernatorial election in Bangkok.

With general elections due in March next year, the prime minister’s dismal popularity – the candidate linked to him receives just 8 percent of the vote – is ringing alarm bells among his own MPs.

“Now when you see the behavior of these politicians, they don’t pay attention to the government. They are more concerned about the next elections,” political analyst Waitoolkiat said.

A recent survey by the National Institute of Development Administration found that two-thirds of 1,300 respondents wanted Prayut to disappear immediately.

Protesters are expected to take to the streets from Tuesday night calling on Prayuth to resign, and police have already set up shipping containers to protect the streets around government buildings.

But Prayut has weathered months of street protests in Bangkok in 2020 and has survived four no-confidence motions in parliament. Many believe he is determined to remain the host of the high-profile APEC summit in Bangkok in November.

– ‘tyrant’ –

At a small gathering on Sunday, students and anti-government groups pledged action against “tyrant” Prayut and issued a statement urging people to “regard the upcoming election as a turning point in our struggle.”

“Ball,” a student who gave only his nickname, said he believed Prayut was likely to remain prime minister, backed by the courts – and Thais could take to the streets again.

“In the last eight years nothing has improved in this country and people are almost at breaking point,” he said.

tp-ah-rbu/pdw/dhc/cwl/dva

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