Thailand court sacks PM Yingluck Shinawatra

May 10, 2014

The Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra and several cabinet ministers have been ordered to resign by the Constitutional Court of the country. The court ordered that Ms Yingluck acted illegally when she transferred her national security chief Thawil Pliensri to another position in 2011. The order has come after months of political impasse. Anti-government protesters have been trying to topple Ms Yingluck regime since November 2013. The remaining cabinet members have nominated the commerce minister to replace Ms Yingluck. Ms Yingluck had been accused of abuse of power in improperly transferring Thawil Pliensri, her national security chief appointed by the opposition-led administration, in 2011.
Political situation in Thailand:
Thailand has been undergoing a power struggle since Ms Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra who was PM was thrown out in 2006 by a military coup. Mr Thaksin and his family are detested by some urban and middle-class elites who accuse them of corruption and abuse of power. But Mr Thaksin’s policies hugely popular in rural areas won both the elections since the coup have returned Thaksin-allied governments to power. Court rulings have, in the past, been a key factor amid political turmoil in Thailand.