The five ruled in favor of Sretha's ouster, saying she was 'violating the code of ethics' by appointing a lawyer convicted of corruption as a minister. But four judges were against it. Along with Sretha, Phew Thai Party three lost their Prime Ministership through the Constitutional Court.
Judge Punya Udchachan said in the judgment, 'He (Sretha) has not shown integrity in appointing this minister (Pichit Chuenban). Therefore, in the light of the constitution, the Prime Minister (Sretha) has been deposed by the majority verdict.'
Judge Punya remarked that Sretha should not have been unaware of the fact that Pichit was jailed for corruption in 2008, but by appointing Pichit as a minister without taking it into account, Sretha showed dishonesty and violated ethical standards.
Pichit had earlier resigned from the cabinet after allegations of ethics violations surfaced against Sretha. It may be noted that the court accepted the petition of about 40 senators last May to remove Sretha from the post of Prime Minister.
Meanwhile, Sretha told reporters after being ousted, 'I respect the court's verdict. But I insist again, for about a year that I was in power, I wanted to rule the country honestly with a good mind.'
The same court in the Southeast Asian monarchy declared the country's main opposition party, the Move Forward Party (MFP), dissolved a week before Sretha was ousted. Pita Limjaroenrat, the then head of the Progressive Party, was also banned from politics for a decade.
Sretha's ouster as prime minister in less than a year has raised fears of renewed instability in a country plagued by political unrest for two decades. In the last 20 years, the country has experienced several military coups and large-scale protests due to the conflict between the army, political parties loyal to the monarchy and progressive parties.
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