Prayut’s lawyers to cite 2 charter sections in tenure expiry case

A Government House source said the defence team would cite sections 158 and 159 to counter the opposition’s claim that Prayut’s legal term came to an end on Tuesday (August 23).

The Constitutional Court on Wednesday voted unanimously to accept the opposition’s petition to rule on when Prayut’s term as PM started. The court also voted 5:4 to suspend him from prime ministerial duties until it delivers the ruling.

The petition said General Prayut’s tenure should be counted from August 24, 2014 when he became the prime minister after the coup he led in May that year.

The court is expected to issue its ruling before the end of next month.

According to the source, the defence team will send a written statement to the court arguing that a prime minister must be appointed by the House of Representatives as stipulated in sections 158 and 159. Section 158 requires that the PM be appointed by MPs while Section 159 requires MPs to select the prime minister from a list of candidates submitted by political parties when they register for a general election.

However, the opposition petition cites Section 264, a provisional clause stating that Cabinet ministers in power before the charter’s enactment in 2017 were legal under the charter. As a result, Prayut’s term should be counted from August 24, 2014, it said.

The defence team will counter that Section 264 only describes qualifications for Cabinet members. It will argue that sections 158 and 159 are not subordinate to Section 264, so their stipulation that a prime minister can only be appointed by the House of Representatives must be strictly enforced.

The defence team will state that Prayut’s term should end in 2027 because he was appointed as prime minister by the House under the 2017 Constitution in June 2019.