Forty senators have asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the status of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and PM's Office Minister Pichit Chuenban after the latter was appointed as a minister in the recent cabinet reshuffle.
In the petition submitted to the court via Senate Speaker Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, the senators asked if the ministerial status of Mr Srettha and Mr Pichit should terminate based on Section 170 (4) and (5) of the charter which deal with moral and ethical standards of a cabinet minister.
In 2008, Mr Pichit, together with his two colleagues, was given a six-month jail term for contempt of court when he dropped a box of snacks containing 2 million baht at the Supreme Court, in what was seen as an attempted bribe.
Mr Pichit then represented former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his ex-wife, Khunying Potjaman na Pombejra, in the infamous Ratchadaphisek land purchase case. Thaksin was handed a two-year jail term that year.
Direkrit Jenkhrongtham, one of the senators who signed the petition, said it is the Senate's responsibility to seek a court ruling on the controversy surrounding Mr Pichit's qualifications.
He said Mr Pichit's conduct is widely seen as attempted bribe which makes him unfit to assume a cabinet post and Mr Srettha should be held accountable for his decision to appoint a minister with a questionable background.
PM's Office Minister Pichit Chuenban arrives at Government House on May 7. (Photo: Chanat Katanyu)
According to the senator, he was informed that the petition was received by the Office of the Court and if the court accepts it for consideration, it is expected to rule on the status of the pair.
Earlier this month, Mr Srettha insisted he had submitted the new cabinet line-up to the Council of State, the government’s legal arm, for examination before he actually submitted it for royal endorsement.
A source in the cabinet also said at that time that Mr Pichit’s imprisonment in the 2008 contempt of court case did not render him ineligible to be appointed as a cabinet minister. The conviction had long passed the required 10-year break between finishing serving a jail term and the appointment.
However, a question of whether Mr Pichit meets an MP’s moral and ethical standards as required in the charter is a different matter, according to the source.