The Prime Minister of Thailand was suspended from his duties on Tuesday and may be fired following an ethical inquiry into a telephone call that has been known to have had with the old and powerful leader of Cambodia.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 38, has held a first-minister for only 10 months after replacing his predecessor, who was deprived of office. Its suspension brings a new uncertainty to the Southeast Asian kingdom, which has been affected by years of political turmoil and leadership changes.
The Thailand Constitutional Court accepted a petition presented by a group of 36 senators who accused Paetongtarn of violating the Constitution for breaking the ethical rules in the escape of information, which was confirmed as authentic by both parties.
The court voted in favor of Paetongtarn’s suspension of his prime minister duties until he reached a verdict on the case of ethics. Following a remodeling, Paetongtarn will continue to be part of the government as Minister of Culture.
Paetongtarn has been increasingly asked to resign, with old protesters to take to the streets of the capital, Bangkok, on Saturday, after the Cambodia’s call from the call with Hun Sen, regarding a growing border conflict, causing a widespread anger in the country.
The scandal led the Bhumjaithai Party, one of the prime minister’s leading partners, to withdraw from the coalition last week, discharging a rude blow to the capacity of the Pheu Thai party to maintain power. Paetongtarn is also struggling with the drop in approval rates and faces a motion of censorship in Parliament.
In the call that was reported, held on June 15, Paetongtarn can be heard to call “uncle” to the former Cambodian’s strong man, Hun Sen, and seems to criticize the actions of his own army after the border clashes that led to the death of a Cambodian soldier last month.
The Thai Prime Minister was heard to say to Hun Sen that he was under internal pressure and urged him not to hear the “opposite side”, referring to an Thai army commander in the northeast of the country.
He added that if Hun Sen “wants something, you can tell me and I’ll deal with the matter.”
Paetongtarn’s comments on audio information escape caused great controversy in Thailand and his opponents accused her of compromising the country’s national interests.
After the decision, Paetongtarn said he accepts the court’s decision and that his intention was “was truly acting for the sake of the country.”
“I want to make it clear that my intentions were more than 100% sincere – I acted around the country, to protect our sovereignty, to safeguard the lives of our soldiers and to preserve peace in our nation,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“I also want to apologize to all my Thai compatriots who can feel uncomfortable or disturbed by this,” he added.
In recent decades, Thailand and Cambodia have maintained a complicated relationship of both cooperation and rivalry. The two countries share an 817 -kilometer land border – largely outlined by the French while occupying Cambodia – which has been periodically the scene of military clashes and source of political tensions.
In the aftermath of the scandal, Paetongtarn tried to minimize his statements to Hun Sen, stating at a press conference that he was trying to dispel tensions between the two neighbors and that the “private” phone call “should not have been made public.”
The prime minister said she was using a “negotiation tactic” and that her comments “did not constitute a declaration of faithfulness.”
Paetongtarn became Prime Minister last year after the Constitutional Court decided that his predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, had violated the rules of ethics and voted in favor of his dismissal from the position of Prime Minister.
The same court also dissolved the popular progressive party Move Forward, which obtained the largest number of places in the 2023 elections, and prohibited their leaders to perform political activities for 10 years.
