Political activists are reminding the Thai PM that his term in office ends this month and he must step down. The current prime minister’s ‘term’ is not easily defined. Either it started when the NCPO (the administrative committee that was formed after the coup (named Prayut PM in 2014, after the promulgation of the new constitution in 2017 or after the 2019 general election.
But, according to the Campaign for Popular Democracy group, they are calling on Prayut Chan-o-cha to obey the law and quit when his term officially ends on August 24, based on his official naming as PM by the NCPO in 2014, four months after the coup.
The group’s secretary-general, Metha Maskhao, says 99 activists have signed a petition calling for the PM to do the right thing. Signatories include academics and business leaders, according to a Bangkok Post report.
Opposition politicians are also insisting the PM’s term in office officially ends on August 24, with the Pheu Thai Party pointing out that by that date, he will have served 2 back-to-back terms of 4 years each since seizing power in the 2014 military coup. According to the Thai constitution, a leader’s term is limited to a maximum of 8 years.
According to Metha, while the current charter came into effect in 2017, it can be applied retroactively to politicians who were in power prior to it being announced. He says this means the PM’s term officially began in August 2014, shortly after the coup that ousted the caretaker government of the time.
PM Prayut is showing all the signs of lasting to the end of this administration, which will then lead to a new election later this year or in the first half of 2023. He, and 10 of his ministers, easily survived a series of no-confidence motions in the Thai parliament 2 weeks ago.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
