PM’s caretaker role ‘unconstitutional’

By Martin Petty

17 July 2006

Former members of the ruling Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party pressed Thaksin Shinawatra to step down yesterday, claiming his tenure as caretaker prime minister had expired and was therefore “unconstitutional.”

Former TRT rebels Sanoh Thienthong and Pramual Rujanaseri said Thaksin and his government had settled too long in the caretaker role and it was time for the premier to resign.

“The government thinks that those in the caretaker role can be caretakers forever,” Sanoh said yesterday. “It is implying that it is in power for as long as it wants to be.”

Sanoh, a former leader of the Wang Nam Yen faction of the TRT, has been at odds with Thaksin since he came to office in 2001.

He resigned from the TRT in February to form the Pracharaj party after Thaksin called snap elections to counter street protests against him, which were led by media firebrand Sondhi Limthongkul.

Sondhi, Thaksin’s fiercest critic, launched a scathing attack on the premier on Friday, branding him “an illegal prime minister” during his weekly talk show at Lumpini park. Sondhi referred to four articles of the Constitution which he said Thaksin had breached by being at the helm for more than 120 days.

Sondhi is a core People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leader and chairman of the editorial board of ThaiDay.

Pramual, who has written three books attacking Thaksin, said the government had gone way beyond the period permitted for a caretaker government.

“The government will reach 145 days as caretaker on Wednesday,” he said, “so according to the Constitution, they have already expired.”

He said Thaksin was using Article 215 of the Constitution to justify his role but according to four other articles, he had outstayed his welcome by remaining in office so long.

Article 215 states that a caretaker government can remain in power until a new one is formed, although parts of articles 116, 159, 202 and 203 limit the period in which such a temporary government can operate.

Thaksin announced he would step down as prime minister despite winning the April 2 elections, which were subsequently annulled because of irregularities. After taking a short break, Thaksin returned to office as caretaker prime minister and has since been criticized for overstepping his duty.

Kanin Boonsuwan, who helped draft the Constitution, accused the government of acting beyond its duty as a caretaker and said the country was faced with serious problems as long as a temporary leadership was in place.

“The government is abusing its power,” Kanin said. “It is reshuffling civil servants and approving concession contracts that independent agencies cannot investigate. This is beyond their duties.”

Chulalongkorn University political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak said Thaksin’s critics were justified in making the complaint, but because of flaws in the Constitution, the premier was not legally required to give up his caretaker role.

“We’ve never had a caretaker government in office for so long and it looks to be indefinite,” he said. “But if you go by the rules, the caretaker government stays in office until there is a new one.

“We’ve never been in this situation before. This is a dead end.”

With TRT facing dissolution and the possibility of the October election being postponed, Thitinan said Thaksin’s position had become “untenable” and his behavior as a caretaker was fuelling his opponents’ campaign to topple him.

“Thaksin is now the caretaker in limbo,” he said. “He has a very slippery status now.

“This situation goes against common sense, traditional practice and norms, and because Thaksin doesn’t act like a caretaker, this is galvanizing his opponents.”

Thai Day