(Adnkronos) – Paetongtarn Shinawatra is out of the Prime Minister’s seat in Thailand. The Constitutional Court, which had decided to suspend her from office on July 1st, holds her responsible for violating ethical principles, reports the Bangkok Post. Now Parliament will have to choose a new head of government.
At the center of the case is the leaked recording of a controversial June phone call with Cambodia’s powerful Senate leader Hun Sen. In that conversation, 39-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra appeared to challenge the actions of the Bangkok military in the context of the long-standing border dispute that would then explode into an escalation a few weeks later with five days of clashes. And she seemed to ‘bow’ before Hun Sen, the authoritarian leader who has been in power for 38 years as prime minister, who was a friend and ally of Thaksin Shinawatra, Paetongtarn’s father. In the ‘incriminating’ phone call, Paetongtarn Shinawatra – the youngest prime minister in Thailand’s history – called him “uncle”, a term used as a sign of respect for older people, but which has sparked controversy.
The Constitutional Court’s decision, writes the Bangkok Post, is “another blow” to the Shinawatra dynasty and could lead to a “new period of chaos”.
