Thai ruling party remains upbeat over PM Shinawatra’s fate ahead of verdict
[BANGKOK] Thailand’s ruling Pheu Thai party is optimistic that suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra will win a court case over alleged ethical misconduct that threatens to end her tenure.
The Constitutional Court, which suspended Paetongtarn almost two months ago, is expected to rule if she is guilty or not at 3 pm on Friday. A guilty verdict will end her term as the nation’s youngest leader after just one year in power. An acquittal would return her to the office for the remainder of the government’s tenure until 2027.
The case against Paetongtarn — the third member of the influential Shinawatra clan to lead Thailand — stems from a petition by a group of senators accusing her of breaching ethical standards with her remarks in a leaked phone call with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen about a border standoff.
“The party is naturally concerned about the prime minister, but we remain confident in her integrity and in the explanation she has submitted to the Constitutional Court,” Pheu Thai spokesman Danuphorn Punnakanta said this week. “Our role is to respect the court’s decision while offering her our full support.”
Paetongtarn, who has continued serving as culture minister during her suspension, told cabinet colleagues on Tuesday that she hopes to return as prime minister on Friday, local media reported.
The court decision comes as the economy struggles to catch up with regional peers and braces for the impact of new US tariffs, adding to investor uncertainty.
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It will also test the Shinawatra family’s enduring dominance in Thai politics, which has long pitted their populist base against the conservative establishment — an amalgamation of bureaucrats, the military and business elites.
If ousted, Paetongtarn would become the fifth prime minister backed by the Shinawatra clan to be dismissed by the powerful court. The body was set up in 1997 and is often seen as a tool of the country’s conservative forces to thwart elected governments, disband political parties and engineer long stretches of military-backed rule.
Paetongtarn’s immediate predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, was ousted by the same court last year on ethics charges. Her father Thaksin Shinawatra, a popular but polarising politician, was acquitted in a royal defamation case last week. Analysts viewed the ruling as evidence he retains establishment support, which helped clear the way for his return from 15 years of self-imposed exile in 2023.
The legal troubles for the Shinawatras are far from over. Thaksin also faces a decision by the Supreme Court next month over whether he met the conditions of a one-year prison sentence for a corruption conviction.
Paetongtarn’s rivals have also targeted her with multiple petitions seeking her ouster at the anti-graft commission and the election agency. BLOOMBERG
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