The Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a political activist’s complaint against Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's handout scheme, saying he was not a directly affected party.
The court turned down the complaint from Sonthiya Sawasdee, who earlier this month told the court that the prime minister did not implement the 10,000-baht digital wallet handout scheme the way the Pheu Thai Party had promised. Ms Paetongtarn is the Pheu Thai leader.
The activist also asked the court to suspend the prime minister if the court accepted the case for trial.
On Wednesday the court ruled that it considered the petition to be an argument against the policy of the Pheu Thai Party, and the complainant was not directly damaged or offended by the policy's implementation. Therefore, the court dismissed the petition.
Earlier Mr Sonthaya said that the Pheu Thai Party had campaigned for votes by promising to hand out digital money worth 10,000 baht to Thais aged 16 years and above through a digital money platform. The recipients were estimated to number about 50 million people and they were required to spend the digital money within their native districts.
Later the government instead began handing out 10,000 baht in cash to selected groups of people. Needy and disabled people have already received it. The government plans to expand the handout to elderly people.