US State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo has said the United States looks forward to working with the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, to deepen the alliance and partnership between the two countries, building upon over two centuries of friendship between the two peoples.
“We support transparency and good governance around the world and will continue to work with the Thai people and the Royal Thai government to this end,” said Pompeo in his message to the Thai government.
“The US-Thailand alliance remains strong and we continue to support Thailand’s role as a regional leader, including its chairmanship of ASEAN this year. Our alliance will grow even stronger as we work together to advance goals common to both countries, such as security, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and throughout the world.”
Meanwhile, Pheu Thai party core member Chalerm Yubamrung has challenged Prime Minister Prayut’s qualifications to be prime minister, citing Supreme Court ruling No 3578/2560 on June 1, 2017 between the state prosecutors and political activist Sombat Boonngarm-anong.
In that case, Sombat claimed that the National Council for Peace and Order has no authority to summon him to report to authorities to acknowledge charges of breaching an NCPO order.
Two lower courts ruled that the NCPO was empowered to order the activist to report to officials.
Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling, the maverick former MP who holds a PhD in law, said the court ruled that the NCPO was a “sovereign authority” and General Prayut, in his capacity as head of NCPO, was a state official and, hence, not qualified to assume the post-election premiership.
He also dismissed the rulings of both the Election Commission and the Ombudsmen that General Prayut was not a state official, pointing out that neither agency is a court.
