Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, suspended pending a review of his political situation, will know on the last day of the month if he can remain in power, the Constitutional Court announced on Wednesday.
The court will decide whether the leader, approved by the king on August 24, 2014 after a coup, can continue in office beyond the eight-year limit set in the 2017 constitution.
The announcement is scheduled for 15:00 (9:00 a.m. in Lisbon), said the Constitutional Court, referring to “Enough evidence to decide”.
Article 158 of the 2017 constitution limits the prime minister’s term to eight years, but does not specify the starting point for the calculation, in a loophole that Prayut Chan-O-Cha, 68, is seeking to use.
The supporters of the former general presented two interpretations in favor of maintaining the position: one reading points to 2017, the year in which the current Constitution comes into force, as the beginning of the calculation. Another interpretation maintains that the term began to run in 2019, the year of the controversial elections that legitimized the power of Prayut Chan-O-Cha.
These methods would allow him to remain in office until 2025 or 2027, if he holds office in elections scheduled for early next year.
The opponents, who began the appeal process in court in August, argued that the Constitution is retroactive and the former general reached the limit in August.
On August 24, Thailand’s Constitutional Court decided to suspend Prayut Chan-O-Cha while it hears the case.
But the politician continued to participate in the life of the government as Minister of Defense, a portfolio that he accumulates with the head of the Executive, currently in the hands of Prawit Wongsuwan, 77, another former general.
Source: Observadora
