Thailand PM suspended while court mulls if he defied term limits

Tipanan Sirichana, deputy spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office, said the court decision meant Thailand PM Prayuth suspended until a financial decision.

Thailand's government convened its first Cabinet meeting on August 25 under an acting Prime Minister, after its leader was suspended from his duties while a court decides if the 2014 coup leader violated the country's term limits.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's removal is likely to only be temporary since the Constitutional Court court has generally ruled in the government’s favour in a slew of political cases. Tipanan Sirichana, deputy spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office, said the court decision meant he was suspended until a financial decision.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan has assumed the role of acting Prime Minister, he added, and presided over the Cabinet meeting.

Explained: Thailand’s mass anti-government protests

Any decision to allow the general to stay on risks invigorating a protest movement that has long sought to oust him and reopening deep fissures in Thailand, which has been rocked by repeated bursts of political chaos since a coup toppled then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.

Since then, Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire whose populist appeal threatened the traditional power structure, has remained at the centre of the country's politics, as his supporters and opponents fought for power both at the ballot box and in the streets, sometimes violently. The 2014 takeover ousted his sister from power.

Spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said Prayuth would respect the court's decision and called on others to do the same. But those who want Prayuth gone don't want Prawit, a close political ally of Prayuth and part of the same military clique that staged the coup, in power either.