Thailand's Constitutional Court suspended the prime minister from his duties on Wednesday while it decides whether the man who led a military coup in 2014 has violated the country's term limits. It's considered unlikely that the court will permanently force Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha out since it has generally ruled in the government's favor in a slew of political cases.
But any decision to allow Prayuth to stay on would risk invigorating a protest movement that has long sought to oust him and reopening deep fissures in Thai politics that have sometimes led to violence. While Prayuth initially came to power in a coup, he won the job legally after a general election in 2019.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, a close political ally of Prayuth and part of the same military clique that that staged the coup, will take over as acting prime minister, according to Anucha Burapachaisri, a spokesman for the prime minister's office. Anucha added that Prayuth would respect the court's decision and called on others to do the same.
The choice of Prawit, who is closely associated with Prayuth, is not likely to mollify critics.
Prayuth's detractors contend he has violated a law that limits prime ministers to eight years in power — a threshold they say he hit Tuesday since he officially became prime minister on Aug. 24, 2014.
But his supporters contend his term should be counted from when the current constitution, which contains the term-limit provision, came into effect in 2017. Another interpretation would start the clock in 2019, following the election. A group that is among the leaders of the main protest movement seeking to unseat Prayuth again demanded that he step down on Wednesday. “No Prayuth. No Prawit. No military coup government," the group known as Ratsadon, or The People, said while issuing a new call for protest. But only a small number of protesters came in Wednesday in response.