PM Paetongarn faces another bid to remove her from office
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PM Paetongarn faces another bid to remove her from office

Activist says appointment of former red shirt Nattawut Saikuar as an adviser was an ethical breach

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Nattawut Saikuar (right) is seen campaigning alongside Paetongtarn Shinawatra at a Pheu Thai Party event in Chiang Mai province in September 2022. (Photo: Pheu Thai Party)
Nattawut Saikuar (right) is seen campaigning alongside Paetongtarn Shinawatra at a Pheu Thai Party event in Chiang Mai province in September 2022. (Photo: Pheu Thai Party)

Activist Sonthiya Sawasdee has filed a petition against Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra over her appointment of a previously jailed activist as her adviser.

Mr Sonthiya on Wednesday asked the Office of the Attorney-General to forward his complaint to the Constitutional Court about the appointment of Nattawut Saikuar, a prominent member of the red shirt movement, on Oct 4 last year.

He maintains that Ms Paetongtarn violated many sections of the Constitution including Section 160, which requires cabinet ministers to ensure moral integrity and ethical standards for holders of political office.

The court removed former prime minister Srettha Thavisin from office last year for an ethical violation involving the appointment of a lawyer with a criminal record to the cabinet. His entire cabinet had to step down and a new administration led by Ms Paetongtarn was formed.

Mr Sonthiya said Nattawut had been banned from politics for 10 years and in 2020 was sentenced to jail for two years for a violent protest staged in 2007 outside the residence of the late Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda. The 10-year ban remains in effect.

Nattawut was a deputy commerce and agriculture minister in the Yingluck Shinawatra government from 2012 to 2014.

The advisory appointment by Prime Minister Paetongtarn was a political position, Mr Sonthiya said.

His petition followed similar complaints from activists Nopparut Worachitwutthikul and Ruangkrai Leekitwattana in October last year.

All told, more than a dozen petitions — at least six of them from Mr Ruangkrai — are known to have been filed against the Pheu Thai Party and/or Ms Paetongtarn with the Election Commission and other agencies. They allege corruption or ethics violations related to various decisions made by the premier or the party.

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