The Thai prime minister’s occupational hazard as a political proxy

Once again Thai Prime Minister (PM) Srettha Thavisin has shot himself in the foot. He has only himself to blame. 

The Constitutional Court on 23 May 2024 accepted for further deliberation a case filed by 40 Senators asking it to consider disqualifying him from the premiership for his alleged failure to uphold high ethical standards. 

The case arose from the cabinet reshuffle last month in which Pichit Chuenban, a lawyer of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, was appointed a Minister of the PM’s Office (PMO). Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 and delisted by the Lawyers Council for five years for his involvement in a charge of contempt of court. 

Srettha should have been aware of Pichit’s troubled past. Why did he include Pichit in the new Cabinet line-up? 

The Constitutional Court has given Srettha 15 days to submit a written explanation. 

Last August, Srettha was practically a bystander watching the formation of the ruling coalition of 11 parties, led by Pheu Thai (PT). He had accepted PT’s choice for him to be one of its three premiership candidates, even though he had had no other leadership position in the party. 

As expected, Srettha did not have much say during the chaotic horse-trading Cabinet reshuffle talks last month. The mysterious nomination of Pichit must have come from someone Srettha cannot refuse; someone who the PT leadership – including party leader Ms. Paetongtarn Shinawatra – would never question. 

Srettha has maintained that he believes Pichit is fully qualified to be a minister, because the State Council had clarified that Pichit’s past imprisonment for a misdemeanour no longer disqualifies him from holding a ministerial post. Pichit finished serving the jail term more than ten years ago. 

The contempt of court incident (which involved Pichit leaving a bag containing dessert and 2 million baht of cash in a court office) happened on 10 June 2008 when Pichit was defending Thaksin and his wife in a conflict of interest case. Thaksin and his wife had fled Thailand before the verdict was read in September 2008. Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail but his wife was acquitted. 

However, some 'secret' correspondence from early last September between the PMO and the State Council was recently leaked. It transpired that the enquiry from the PMO was incomplete: it did not ask the State Council to also consider whether Pichit’s contempt of court and imprisonment could constitute a lack of 'evident integrity' and that Pichit seriously failed to uphold high 'ethical standards'. 

Possessing 'evident integrity' and having no serious violation of high 'ethical standards' are two of the eight qualifications listed in the Constitution’s Section 160, which every minister must fully meet. 

The 40 Senators who filed the case against Srettha want the Constitutional Court to punish Srettha for proposing Pichit to the King for a royal appointment as a minister, when Pichit allegedly lacked the right qualifications. 

On 21 May afternoon, Pichit suddenly submitted his resignation. That was a surprising development because earlier that day, he was still confident that he and PM Srettha would prevail. On his about-turn decision to quit, his stated motive was 'to save PM Srettha' from a vindictive 'movement' attempting to perpetuate the 'vicious circle' of money politics in Thailand. 

However, Pichit’s self-sacrifice was too little, too late. The nine judges on the Constitutional Court decided in a 6:3 vote to accept the case against Srettha for further deliberation but decided in a 5:4 vote not to suspend Srettha from his premiership duties while the case is being processed. The part of the case concerning Pichit’s alleged lack of qualifications has been dropped, since he has quit. 

Should the Constitutional Court eventually disqualify Srettha from the premiership, his entire Cabinet will also leave office. In that case, a new PM will have to be found by the 500 MPs in the House of Representatives. 

The old set of 250 appointed Senators can no longer take part in the PM’s selection, as their term ended on 11 May. A new set of 200 Senators will soon be 'elected' but the new Senators shall have no authority to vote for any new premiership race. 

The two largest parties, opposition leader Move Forward Party (MFP) with 148 MPs and PT with 141 MPs, will be key players wooing for the support of other parties for their candidates. 

However, both have serious internal weaknesses. PT’s two remaining premiership candidates, Paetongtarn who is 36 years old and Professor Chaikasem Nitisiri who is 75, are respectively deemed too young and inexperienced, and too poorly. MFP is facing a possible dissolution, which will entail a long ban from national politics for Pita Limjaroenrat, the party’s sole premiership candidate. 

Under these circumstances, the other parties’ candidates, notably Bhumjaithai’s Deputy PM (DPM) and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Palang Pracharat’s ex-DPM General Prawit Wongsuwan, and United Thai Nation’s DPM and Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, will see new opportunities to manoeuvre for the premiership. A re-alignment of these parties to form a new ruling coalition may emerge. 

Even if the Constitutional Court exonerates Srettha, the PM will not be out of the woods just yet. His image as a political 'proxy' or a 'salesman' working for some mastermind will further weaken his credibility and make him more vulnerable. Srettha has accepted this difficult but glamorous role as the Thai premier, knowing full well that he will be in the firing line, with no control of the PT or other government parties. 

Thaksin believes Srettha will be able to defend himself. 

However, if Srettha has to go, will Thaksin turn to his daughter Paetongtarn to take the premiership – and face the firing line like Srettha? 

Termsak Chalermpalanupap is a Visiting Senior Fellow and Acting Coordinator of the Thailand Studies Programme, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. 

This article originally appeared on the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute's Fulcrum on 29 May 2024.