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Thai court orders Yingluck Shinawatra to step down as PM Thai court orders Yingluck Shinawatra to step down as PM
(about 2 hours later)
Thailand's constitutional court has ordered the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to step down after finding her guilty in an abuse of power case.Thailand's constitutional court has ordered the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, to step down after finding her guilty in an abuse of power case.
Yingluck was charged with abusing her authority by transferring a senior civil servant to another position in 2011. The court ruled on Wednesday that the transfer was carried out with a "hidden agenda" that violated the constitution. The country's commerce minister will become acting prime minister following the ruling. Several other ministers were also forced to step down.
Her supporters accuse the courts of toppling Yingluck unfairly after six months of anti-government protests failed to unseat her. "The cabinet has decided that Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan will carry out duties in place of Prime Minister Yingluck," the justice minister, Pongthep Thepkanjana, told a news conference.
It is the latest twist in Thailand's long-running political crisis. Yingluck supporters plan to hold a rally on Saturday, which many fear could spark violence. Thailand has had an acting government since Yingluck dissolved the lower house of parliament in December in a failed attempt to defuse anti-government protests. That election was disrupted and then annulled. A new election is planned for 20 July.
Yingluck was charged with abusing her authority by transferring a senior civil servant to another position in 2011. The court ruled on Wednesday that the transfer was carried out to benefit her politically powerful family and therefore violated the constitution, an accusation she denied.
"Transferring government officials must be done in accordance with moral principle," the court said in its ruling, broadcast live on television. "Transferring with a hidden agenda is not acceptable.
"The constitutional court has ruled unanimously that [Yingluck] has used her status as the prime minister to intervene for her own and others' benefits to [transfer] a government official," which violated article 268 of the constitution and ended her rule as prime minister, the court said.
The ruling also forced out nine cabinet members who the court said were complicit in the transfer of the national security council chief Thawil Pliensri.
Yingluck supporters plan to hold a rally on Saturday, which many fear could spark violence. They accuse the courts of toppling the prime minister unfairly after six months of anti-government protests failed to unseat her. Since November more than 20 people have been killed and hundreds injured in sporadic gun battles, drive-by shootings and grenade attacks.
The ruling casts doubt on whether elections planned for July will take place. It remains far from clear whether Yingluck's opponents will be able to achieve other key demands, including creating a reform council overseen by a leader of their choice who would take steps to rid the country of corruption and what they say is money politics, including alleged vote-buying.The ruling casts doubt on whether elections planned for July will take place. It remains far from clear whether Yingluck's opponents will be able to achieve other key demands, including creating a reform council overseen by a leader of their choice who would take steps to rid the country of corruption and what they say is money politics, including alleged vote-buying.
Thailand's political upheaval began when Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after protests accusing him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for the constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Since then, Thaksin's supporters and opponents have engaged in a power struggle that has on occasion turned bloody. The campaign against Yingluck, 46, has been the latest chapter in Thailand's political upheaval, which began when her brother Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after protests accusing him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for the constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Thaksin's supporters say the Thai establishment opposes him because their position of privilege has been threatened by his electoral popularity, cemented by populist programmes that benefited the less well-off in the countryside.
Thailand's courts, like its military, are seen as bastions of anti-Thaksin conservatism, and have a record of hostile rulings toward the Shinawatra political machine. Thaksin's opponents, including those who have rioted and attacked police, destroyed public property and occupied government offices, have usually been treated leniently by the courts. The constitutional court has historically been unsympathetic to Thaksin's allies.