Court Verdict: Thai PM Guilty of Violating Constitution; Nine Other Members of Cabinet Also Removed from Office

By Samantha Hawley, ABCOnline -  May 7, 2014 – http://tinyurl.com/qeecknl

Thailand’s cabinet has appointed a new caretaker prime minister shortly after Yingluck Shinawatra was removed from office for abuse of power. Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan will step into the role.

The country’s Constitutional Court found Ms Yingluck violated the constitution when she transferred the National Security Council chief in 2011.

“The judges unanimously rule that Ms Yingluck abused her prime minister status and interfered in transferring (Thawil Pliensri) for her own benefit,” the president of the nine-member court, Charoon Intachan, said in a televised ruling.

“Therefore her prime minister status has ended… Yingluck can no longer stay in her position acting as caretaker prime minister.”

Nine cabinet ministers who endorsed the decision to transfer the security chief must also step down from office.

Ms Yingluck, who has faced six months of protests aimed at toppling her government, denied wrongdoing.

The caretaker government says it will move ahead with plans for a general election on July 20.

There are fears Wednesday’s verdict will destabilise security in the capital, Bangkok, with government supporters, known as the Red Shirts, vowing to protest on the streets.

Among other charges Ms Yingluck faces is one of dereliction of duty over a state rice-buying scheme that critics say is riddled with corruption and has run up huge losses.

These charges were brought by the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which is expected to deliver its ruling later this month.

If found guilty on this count, Ms Yingluck could face a five-year ban from politics.

Both Ms Yingluck’s supporters and the anti-government protesters plan large rallies in and around Bangkok next week.

The protests, since November, form part of a long-running crisis that broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and royalist establishment against the mainly poor, rural supporters of Ms Yingluck and her brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Mr Thaksin was ousted by the military in 2006 and now lives in exile to avoid a jail term handed down in 2008 for abuse of power. His opponents accuse him of corruption and nepotism.