Thailand’s Constitutional Court has scheduled a special meeting of the judges this Thursday, to discuss suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s eight-year term in the office.
A well-informed source close to the court said that president of the court, Worawit Kangsasitiam, had notified all the judges of the meeting, called to consider the written explanations about the case received from Prayut, former chairman of the constitution drafting committee Meechai Ruchupan and Pakorn Nilprapunt, secretary of the committee.
The source said that the judges will assess whether the written statements are sufficient to enable the charter court rule on Prayut’s term in office or whether more evidence or witness accounts would be required.
Suspended Prime Minister Prayut, currently defence minister, submitted his 30-page explanation, prepared by a legal team atthe Prime Minister’s Office, to the charter court last Thursday.
In the statement, Prayut contends that his eight years in office should not be counted from August 24th, 2014, when he assumed the premiership after the coup in May of that yearwhich toppled the then caretaker government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
On August 24th this year, the Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Prayut from active duty, after it had accepted a petition from the opposition Pheu Thai Party positing that his 8-year term in office was due to expire on August 24th, 2022.
