BANGKOK: Thailand’s anti-graft body will investigate suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for alleged ethnics violations over a leaked phone call with Cambodia’s influential former leader Hun Sen, an official and local media said on Monday (Jul 14).
The investigation will be another blow to the beleaguered government of 38-year-old Paetongtarn, Thailand’s youngest premier, who the Constitutional Court suspended from duty earlier this month over the same issue.
The leaked Jun 15 call, during which Paetongtarn appeared to kowtow before Hun Sen and criticised a Thai army commander, triggered a major backlash at home, with allegations she had undermined Thailand’s integrity and sovereignty amid a heated territorial dispute with Cambodia.
Paetongtarn has since seen protests calling for her resignation and the exit from her coalition of its second-largest party, leaving her government with a razor-thin majority.
“The commission has set up an investigation panel. There is no timeframe,” said an official from the National Anti-Corruption Commission, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the matter.
The body has a broad remit to probe allegations of offences by state officials beyond graft.
Multiple Thai media outlets on Monday reported it had decided to investigate Pateongtarn.
The NACC secretary-general Sarote Phuengrampan told reporters he was not aware of the investigation or any decision by commissioners.
The complaint came from 36 senators who also petitioned the Constitutional Court alleging Paetongtarn, the daughter of politically influential billionaire had violated ethical standards and intentionally abused her power. She is suspended from duty until a verdict is delivered.
Paetongtarn has apologised for the call and insisted she was trying to find a peaceful solution to an escalating row with Cambodia, which saw a troop buildup on both sides of their border.
Paetongtarn’s battles after only 10 months in office underline a deep rift in Thailand between the Shinawatra political dynasty and its rivals among a conservative establishment backed by the army, a long-running power struggle that has seen two coups and the fall of multiple parties and prime ministers by court orders.
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