Bangkok: Thailand's Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office on Wednesday, ruling against him in an ethics case that throws the kingdom into fresh political turmoil.
The judges ruled 5-4 that Srettha breached regulations by appointing a lawyer with a criminal conviction to his cabinet, in a case brought by a group of former senators appointed by Thailand's former ruling junta.
The ruling comes a week after the same court dissolved the main opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) and banned its former leader from politics for 10 years.
"The court rules by a majority of five to four that the ministerial position of the prime minister is terminated under the constitution, because he has not shown honesty in appointing this minister," Judge Punya Udchachon said in reading the court's judgment.
Punya said that Srettha must have known about lawyer Pichit Chuenban's 2008 conviction when he appointed him to the cabinet.
"The appointment of the second respondent (Pichit) shows the first respondent (Srettha) has no honesty and breached ethical standards," Punya added.
Srettha leaves office after less than a year in the job - the third prime minister from the Pheu Thai party to be kicked out by the Constitutional Court.
Thai politics has endured two decades of chronic instability, marked by coups, street protests and court orders, much of it energised by the long-running battle between the military, pro-royalist establishment and progressive parties linked to Pheu Thai patriarch Thaksin Shinawatra.
The court ruling dismisses not only Srettha but also his whole cabinet, and parliament will now have to meet to choose a new prime minister.
Cycle of turmoil
The case against Srettha centred around the appointment of Pichit, a lawyer associated with the family of billionaire former prime minister Thaksin - former Manchester City owner and longtime bete noire of the kingdom's conservative pro-royalist, pro-military elite.
Pichit, sentenced to six months' jail in 2008 for a graft-related offence, quit the cabinet in a bid to save Srettha, but the court pressed ahead with a case initiated by a complaint by senators appointed by Thailand's former junta.
Srettha came to power less than a year ago at the head of a coalition led by Pheu Thai, after striking a deal with army-linked parties.
The ruling highlights old divisions in Thai politics between the conservative establishment and progressive parties such as Pheu Thai and its new rival MFP.
Thailand has endured a cycle of coups, court rulings, street protests and elections since the early 2000s as the establishment battled Thaksin and his allies for dominance.
The 40 senators who brought the complaint were all appointed by the military junta that ousted the elected Pheu Thai government in a 2014 coup.
The senate also played a crucial role in thwarting MFP's attempt to form a government after it won the most seats in last year's general election.
Senators alarmed by its pledges to reform lese-majeste laws and break up powerful business monopolies refused to endorse MFP's then-leader Pita Limjaroenrat as prime minister and the party was forced into opposition.
