PUBLISHED : 2 Aug 2024 at 05:05
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin brushed aside rumours about “a backup prime minister” being chosen to replace him.
The rumours stem from concerns he could be removed from office in a case involving his decision to appoint ex-convict Pichit Chuenban as a PM’s Office Minister in the last cabinet reshuffle.
“I am still the prime minister and am working to the best of my ability,” Mr Srettha said on Thursday, adding that he is ready to accept the Constitutional Court’s ruling on Aug 14, no matter the outcome.
“I already sent a closing statement to the court on Tuesday. I don’t want to comment any further,” he told the press.
Mr Srettha also downplayed a rumour that the Palang Pracharath Party will be booted out of the coalition government. “We should focus on working to solve the country’s problems,” Mr Srettha said.
Former senator Wanchai Sornsiri said he believed Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, could replace Mr Srettha as prime minister if he is removed from office in the Pichit case.
He said that Bhumjaithai Party leader and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul is unlikely to succeed Mr Srettha as prime minister because Bhumjaithai, the third largest party, has only 70 MPs.
“[Former premier] Thaksin Shinawatra [who is Pheu Thai’s alleged de facto leader] will not allow Mr Anutin to become the next prime minister,” Mr Wanchai said.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court president, Nakharin Mektrairat, on Thursday issued an order designating the court’s premises as a controlled area on Aug 7, when the court is scheduled to rule in a dissolution case against the main opposition Move Forward Party (MFP), and on Aug 14, when the court will rule on Mr Srettha’s case.
Under the order, no one can enter the area without permission on those days.
On Aug 7, the Constitutional Court will rule whether the MFP should be dissolved for having violated Section 92 of the organic law on political parties as petitioned in March by the Election Commission (EC).
The poll agency’s request is based on the court’s ruling on Jan 31 that the MFP’s efforts to change Section 112 of the Criminal Code reflected an intention to undermine the constitutional monarchy.
On Aug 14, the same court will decide Mr Srettha’s fate as prime minister.
A group of 40 former senators lodged a petition asking the court to dismiss Mr Srettha as prime minister in May.
They said Pichit was unfit to assume a cabinet post because he had served jail time for contempt of court in 2008 for attempting to bribe Supreme Court officials in a controversial land case involving Thaksin.