Thai PM Prayuth gets a reprieve, but will he survive election?
- Former army chief who led 2014 coup restored as PM after brief suspension, with court saying he had not exceeded term limit
- Voters due at polls in May, but pro-democracy protesters are angry; ‘if Prayuth has the audacity to stay on, we must keep fighting’
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday restored Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister after a five-week suspension imposed while it considered whether the former army chief had overstayed a legal eight-year term limit in office.
The ruling is a blow to the country’s pro-democracy camp, which have been preparing for elections and had hoped the removal of the 68-year-old retired general would wobble a conservative establishment that has dominated Thailand since Prayuth led a 2014 coup.
Protesters gathered in downtown Bangkok after the ruling to express their disapproval.
“If Prayuth has the audacity to stay on, we must keep on fighting. He’s going to have to deal with us hounding him every day,” said 19-year-old Nattakorn Chusanong.
Most of the nine-member bench decided that Prayuth’s premiership “has not reached the eight-year limit”, said judge Punya Udchacon, reading the ruling. “The cabinet under the premiership of the respondent is counted from April 6, 2017.”
Under the 2017 Thai constitution, a prime minister cannot serve more than eight years in office, but Prayuth’s supporters and critics disagreed about when his term began.