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As expected, the judges of the Constitutional Court decided to allow the 2014 coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha to remain in office, saying that his premiership term started on April 6, 2017, after the 2016 constitution came into effect.
The 9 bench judges ruled 6:3 to allow Gen. Prayut to return to being the Prime Minister after a 5:4 vote had suspended him from active duty on August 24th this year.
The suspension was put in place after the opposition parties petitioned the Constitutional Court to rule on the 8-year term limit that the 2016 constitution had placed on any individual.
The judges said that Gen. Prayut’s 8-year premiership term should be counted from April 6, 2017, when he was royally endorsed as premier under the current junta drafted charter was enforced.
The 2016 constitution was passed by more than 50% votes on August 7, 2016, before being forwarded to HM the King for his endorsement which he endorsed on April 6, 2017.
The opposition was of the belief that Gen. Prayut’s term should be counted from when he was royally endorsed as prime minister under the previous interim charter which was being used during the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s era.
The NCPO overthrew an elected government of Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with a military coup on May 22, 2014. Gen. Prayut was appointed as the Prime Minister on August 24, 2014, by late HM King Rama IX.
If this was counted, Gen. Prayut’s 8-year term would have ended on August 23, 2022.
Wishy-Washy Justification
The court said that Gen. Prayut’s term during the previous interim charter cannot be mixed with the term which started under the 2017 charter.
Therefore, his term should be counted from April 6, 2017, and he will technically be able to stay in power until April 5, 2025.
This means that if the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) picks Gen. Prayut to be their candidate at the next general election which is expected to take place in May 2023 and PPRP wins the elections, then Gen. Prayut will only be able to stay in power for 2 years out of the next government’s 4-year term.
Nevertheless, that would still make him the longest-serving prime minister in Thailand’s history.
Pro-democracy and anti-Payut protest groups already said that they will stage protests against the general if the court decided that he can continue to stay in power.
Activist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk also called for opposition parties to lead the protest to oust Gen. Prayut from the premier seat before the next general election.
