Court Says PM Must Suspend His Duties While It Deliberates Term Length

Thailand's Constitutional Court has ordered PM Prayuth Chan-ocha to suspend his duties and hand power for now to Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan while it deliberates on the issue of whether Prayuth has overstayed his maximum eight years in office.

• Earlier today, MNI wrote "The Thai constitution stipulates that the Prime Minister "shall not hold office for more than eight years in total." It is unclear whether Prayuth's term should be counted from 2014 when he first took office after a military coup, or from the promulgation of the new constitution in 2017." See https://marketnews.com/constitutional-court-consid...
• The decision on a court was a close one, with five judges voting in favour of suspending Prayuth and four against. The court did not state a timeframe for how long the deliberations could take, but some observers speculate it could take a month or more.
• Should Prayuth be forced from office it could lead to a period of political instability as various parties and factions vie for power, with the right-wing military-civil People's State Power Party of Prayuth not the largest in the House of Representatives.
• However, should the court back Prayuth to remain in office or even seek another term (if his start date is deemed to be after the 2019 general election) it could also see instability, with mass protests emerging in recent days calling for the PM's ouster.