The Thai Constitutional Court rules in favor of the prime minister and guarantees his return to office

Sep. 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Constitutional Court of Thailand has concluded this Friday that the country’s prime minister, Prayuth Chan Ocha, has not yet completed his entire term in a ruling that will allow him to return to office after the five-week suspension that was imposed after a demand from the opposition Pheu Thai party.

The formation argued that the prime minister was already leading the country before beginning his effective term as head of the Executive on April 6, 2017, specifically during the previous years that he was at the head of the coup military junta that seized power in 2014 Pheu Thai understood that, adding that time, the retired general had exceeded the mandate of eight years stipulated in the Constitution of the country.

Prayuth was suspended from his post during the deliberations of the court, which has finally decided in favor of the former military man on the understanding that his mandate must be counted from the promulgation of the current Magna Carta in 2017, which stipulated the creation of a civil Government with Prayuth already in charge of it, according to the ‘Bangkok Post’.

All this occurs amid a decline in the prime minister’s popularity and in the face of a strong division of opinion between critics, supporters and the country’s Electoral Commission on his time in power.

In this sense, some advocates argue that it should be counted from the 2019 elections, the first since the current declaration of the country’s Constitution, while the commission has proposed holding general elections on May 7, 2023, when the legislative mandate expires. of the current government coalition. This Friday’s decision implies, however, that the ex-military man may remain in office until at least 2025.

At least two anti-government groups had planned to meet this Friday in the commercial district of downtown Bangkok to protest against the prime minister, on a day that the Constitutional headquarters has dawned with an additional deployment of 300 agents to protect the magistrates.

During Prayuth’s suspension, the country has been governed by the deputy prime minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, also a former military commander and considered the designated successor at the end of the ex-military man’s mandate, whenever that happens.