Thai court suspends PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra over leaked phone call

Thailand’s Constitutional Court has suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra pending an ethics investigation over accusations she was too deferential to a senior Cambodian leader in a leaked phone call.

She has faced growing dissatisfaction over her handling of the dispute, which involved an armed confrontation on May 28 in which one Cambodian soldier was killed.

In a call with Cambodian senate president Hun Sen, she attempted to defuse tensions, but instead set off a string of complaints by critics who accused her of being too fawning.

Ms Paetongtarn’s suspension raises the possibility of renewed instability in Thailand, a still fragile democracy which has suffered several similar bouts of uncertainty.

At the root of much of that were concerns from the conservative establishment, including the military, that the political dynasty started by Mr Paetongtarn’s father – the popular but divisive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra – was becoming too powerful.

She is the third member of her family to hold the prime minister’s office — and the third to face the possibility of removal before her term ended.

Thaksin was removed from office in a 2006 coup and driven into exile, while his sister, Yingluck Shinawtra, was removed by a court order in 2014 followed shortly after by a coup.

The suspension comes at a time when the country is facing an economic slowdown and growing discontent with Ms Paetongtarn and her Pheu Thai party in general, with critics saying her government’s performance has been underwhelming.

The judges voted unanimously on Tuesday to take the petition accusing her of a breach of the ethics, and voted 7-2 to immediately suspend her from duty as a prime minister until the ruling is given. The court gave her 15 days to give evidence to support her case.

After the court order, she said she would accept the process and defended her actions.

“I only thought about what to do to avoid troubles, what to do to avoid armed confrontation, for the soldiers not to suffer any loss. I wouldn’t be able to accept it if I said something with the other leader that could lead to negative consequences,” she said.

She apologised to people upset over the leaked call and left Government House shortly after.

Suriya Jungrungruangkit, who is a deputy prime minister and transport minister, will take charge as the acting premier, said Chousak Sirinil, minister of the prime minister’s office.

Earlier on Tuesday, before the court suspended Ms Paetongtarn, King Maha Vajiralongkorn had endorsed a cabinet reshuffle after a major party left the government coalition over the leaked call.

In the reshuffle, Ms Paetongtarn received the position of culture minister, in addition to prime minister, though it is not clear if she can take the oath to take that role.

In the call that about the border tensions, Ms Paetongtarn could be heard addressing Hun Sen — a longtime friend of her father — as uncle. She also urged him not to listen to a Thai regional army commander who had publicly criticised Cambodia about the border dispute, and called him “an opponent”.

Thousands of conservative, nationalist-leaning protesters rallied in central Bangkok on Saturday to demand her resignation.

She also faces separate investigations by another agency over the leaked call, in a case that could also lead to her removal.