Elected Prime Minister’s ouster a ‘judicial coup’
The ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who has faced anti-Government protests since last Fall, is unlikely to resolve the festering political crisis in Thailand. On the contrary, it is symptomatic of the structural flaws in that country's governance institutions in which the present crisis has its roots; unless these flaws are addressed, democracy in Thailand will continue to be under threat. On May 7, the Constitutional Court fired nine Cabinet Ministers as well as Ms Shinawatra, all democratically elected leaders, from their posts. Three years ago, the Prime Minister had moved the national police chief to the position of top security advisor, thereby paving the way for her brother-in-law's appointment as police chief. In any country, this would have hardly qualified as a scandal but for Thailand's constitutional court, it was an abuse of power so grave that it justified the removal of the head of the Government. This has been possible because the current Constitution of Thailand, written by military men just before they ceded office space to civilians, vests enormous powers in the judiciary. Consequently, judges can easily fire elected leaders, no matter how petty their offence or how important their position. To make matters worse, the Thai judiciary is politicised, and has been at loggerheads with the executive and legislative.
It is no wonder then that Ms Shinawatra's ouster has been termed by many as a ‘judicial coup'. And she is not the first Thai Prime Minister to have been shunted out of office in this manner. In the past six years, two others have also suffered the same fate. And all three have one thing in common — they owe allegiance to Mr Thaksin Shinawatra, brother of the recently removed Prime Minister. A business tycoon, Mr Shinawatra was Thailand's Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup. Since then, he has lived in self-imposed exile. An amnesty bill proposed by his sister would have allowed him to return home; instead, it was used by his rivals to leverage popular resentment against a corrupt state and launch this massive anti-Government protest. As the movement gained strength, the Shinawatra Government responded by dissolving Parliament in December last year and holding an election in February. However, the Opposition was not satisfied — it disrupted the polling process, and subsequently, the court also cancelled the vote which was overwhelming in favour of the incumbent. Another vote is scheduled for July but with the Shinawatra regime toppled yet again, it is unclear it will proceed as planned. The Opposition, comprising of the old guard which has repeated failed to secure a popular mandate, wants an unelected council to first strengthen state institutions and then hold elections. This is a thinly-disguised attempt at scuttling Thailand's young democracy.