Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra suspended amid Cambodia spat probe

2 days ago

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended by the country's Constitutional Court, as it opened a probe into her conduct in a diplomatic spat with Cambodia.
The kingdom's politics have been dominated for years by a battle between the conservative, pro-military, pro-royalist elite and the Shinawatra clan, who they consider

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Otago Daily Times

8 hours ago

Otago Daily Times

Longer the power, stupider the man

Cambodian President Hun Sen used to be ruthless but clever; now he's just stupid. PHOTO: REUTERS Leading an entire country for a few years is a steep learning curve, but it's useful experience. Being in power for a dozen years makes most leaders arrogant and careless, but some remain more or less functional. Being in power for more than 30 years just makes you stupid. Consider Cambodia's Hun Sen and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hun Sen began as a Khmer Rouge commander and went on to rule Cambodia effectively as an absolute dictator for 36 years. (He is by far the country's richest man and his personal guard rivals the national army in size.) He passed the prime ministership on to his son Hun Manet two years ago, but he really still rules. There is an old history of military confrontations between Thailand and Cambodia, but relations have been stable since Hun Sen came to power. In fact, there were close links between him and the Shinawatra family that has dominated democratic politics in Thailand for half of this century. So when there was a shoot-out on the Cambodian-Thai border a couple of weeks ago the Thai prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, got on the phone to calm things down with Hun Sen. (She called him "uncle" because her father and the Cambodian leader had been so close.) Only one Cambodian soldier was killed in the incident, but who wants a war? She criticised the Thai regional commander, who she said "just wanted to look tough," and added that if Hun Sen wanted anything she would "take care of it." This is how grown-ups in power manage random incidents that can cause serious trouble: apologise (whether your side was in the wrong or not), lay on the flattery, give everybody an off-ramp. And keep it as private as possible. Instead, Hun Sen put the entire 17-minute conversation on his website. Its effect, and most likely his purpose, was to humiliate Prime Minister Shinawatra and stir up outrage among Thai ultra-nationalists. We can probably therefore assume that he was acting in league with aforesaid ultra-nationalists, but he's crazy to believe that they are reliable allies. Hun Sen may be calculating that a small military confrontation with Thailand will help his son to consolidate his hold on power. However, it's just as likely that the Thai hard-liners would exploit a brief victorious war (Thais outnumber Cambodians four-to-one) to legitimise their intended coup. Hun Sen used to be ruthless but clever; now he's just stupid. He's taking an unnecessary risk for a doubtful outcome. But the uncomfortable truth is that at least half the wars on this planet start for reasons no more profound than this. Which brings us to the truly counterproductive behaviour of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Like Hun Sen, Iran's Supreme Leader has been in power for 36 years. At least half the Iranian population would be glad to see him gone, but during his early years he was an effective ruler. Now he is an isolated old man of 86 who simply does not grasp the plight of his nation. Donald Trump gave Iran's leaders an unintended opening with his over-the-top boasting about the damage that one day of US air strikes did to the country. The American and world media were already questioning his claims that the three nuclear enrichment sites at Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan were "totally obliterated", and Trump had doubled down on them. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who knows his way around the diplomatic world, humbly admitted the American strikes had done "excessive and serious damage." The country is virtually defenceless against American and Israeli airstrikes: why would Iran give them any reason to believe that they had to go back and finish the job? But Ayatollah Ali Khamanei was living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. In a video statement on 26 June, he insisted that the American air strikes "did not achieve anything" and further threatened to give the United States "another slap" (referring to the Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar in retaliation for the US air strikes). Khamenei seemed unaware that no damage had been done to American lives or military assets. He didn't even seem to know that Iran's surviving military leaders, hoping to avoid a game of tit-tor-tat in which they would be utterly outmatched, had informed US authorities in advance of when the missiles would be launched and on what trajectories. Trump went berserk at Khamenei's speech. "You got beat to hell," he raged, and declared that he had been about to end sanctions against Iran but the Ayatollah's speech changed his mind. That's probably untrue, but Khamenei is too old to be left in office. As Trump himself will probably be before his presidential term is finished. • Gwynne Dyer is an independent London journalist.

RNZ News

2 days ago

RNZ News

Thai court suspends PM from duty pending case seeking her dismissal

By Panu Wongcha-um and Panarat Thepgumpanat , Reuters Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Photo: JACK TAYLOR / AFP Thailand's Constitutional Court has suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, adding to mounting pressure on a government under fire on multiple fronts. The court in a statement said it had accepted a petition from 36 senators that accuses Paetongtarn of dishonesty and breaching ethnical standards in violation of the constitution over the leak of a politically sensitive telephone conversation with Cambodia's influential former leader Hun Sen. The government is expected to be led by a deputy prime minister in a caretaker capacity while the court decides the case against Paetongtarn, who will remain in the cabinet as the new culture minister following a reshuffle. The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on her suspension. The leaked call with the veteran Cambodian politician triggered domestic outrage and has left Paetongtarn's coalition with a razer-thin majority, with a key party abandoning the alliance and expected to soon seek a no confidence vote in parliament, as protest groups demand the premier resigns. During a June 15 call intended to defuse escalating border tensions with Cambodia, Paetongtarn, 38, kowtowed before Hun Sen and criticised a Thai army commander, a red line in a country where the military has significant clout. She apologised and said her remarks were a negotiating tactic. Paetongtarn's battles after only 10 months in power underline the declining strength of the Pheu Thai Party, the populist juggernaut of the billionaire Shinawatra dynasty that has dominated Thai elections since 2001, enduring military coups and court rulings that have toppled multiple governments and prime ministers. It has been a baptism of fire for political novice Paetongtarn, who thrust into power as Thailand's youngest premier and replacement for Srettha Thavisin, who was dismissed by the Constitutional Court for violating ethics by appointing a minister who was once jailed. Paetongtarn's government has also been struggling to revive a stuttering economy and her popularity has declined sharply, with a June 19-25 opinion poll released at the weekend showing her approval rating sinking to 9.2 percent from 30.9 percent in March. Paetongtarn is not alone in her troubles, with influential father Thaksin Shinawatra, the driving force behind her government, facing legal hurdles of his own in two different courts this month. Divisive tycoon Thaksin, according to his lawyer, appeared at his first hearing at Bangkok's Criminal Court on Tuesday (US Time) on charges he insulted Thailand's powerful monarchy, a serious offence punishable by up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. Thaksin denies the allegations and has repeatedly pledged allegiance to the crown. The case stems from a 2015 media interview Thaksin gave while in self-imposed exile , from which he returned in 2023 after 15 years abroad to serve a prison sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of power. Thaksin, 75, dodged jail and spent six months in hospital detention on medical grounds before being released on parole in February last year. The Supreme Court will this month scrutinise that hospital stay and could potentially send him back to jail. - Reuters

NZ Herald

2 days ago

NZ Herald