Thailand’s Constitutional Court will rule on Sept. 30 whether Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha should permanently step down over an eight-year term limit challenge brought by his political opponents, saying it had gathered enough preliminary evidence to proceed with a review.
(Bloomberg) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court will rule on Sept. 30 whether Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha should permanently step down over an eight-year term limit challenge brought by his political opponents, saying it had gathered enough preliminary evidence to proceed with a review.
“The court has discussed and found the case to be a legal challenge and there are enough witnesses and evidences to consider a ruling,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
With the court not revoking his suspension last month, Prayuth’s fate hangs in the balance. The former general’s legal team had argued his premiership didn’t start on Aug. 24, 2014 — the day he was appointed prime minister of a military government.
The eventual court ruling could lead to different scenarios including Prayuth being declared lo longer eligible to hold the premier job. The legal review was based on a debate over whether his years as junta leader before the current charter became effective in 2017 should be counted.
Supporters of the retired general have argued either that his start date should be when the charter became effective in 2017 or that it should be from when he became the head of an elected government in 2019.
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