A Thai court has overruled Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for appointing a former lawyer to his cabinet.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Mr Srettha had breached the “rules of conduct” by displaying “disrespectful behaviour”.
Srettha, 67, who has been in power for less than a year, is the third Prime Minister in 16 years to be removed by the same court.
He will be replaced by an interim leader until the Thai parliament meets to elect a new prime minister.
“I’m confident in my honesty… I’m sorry, but I’m not saying I don’t agree with the decision,” he said at a press conference shortly after the decision.
The decision reflects further political uncertainty in a country that has experienced several coups, the last of which was in 2014 when the military seized power.
On Wednesday, the court voted five out of four to remove Mr Srettha from office. The court’s decision is final and cannot be appealed.
Earlier this May, the court accepted a petition filed by about 40 senators asking to remove the Prime Minister from his post by appointing Pichit Chuenban – who was sentenced to six months in prison for attempted bribery.
Mr Sretta became prime minister despite his Pheu Thai party not coming out as the winner in last year’s election, which ended nine years of military rule in Thailand.
Voters gave a positive response to the new, reformist party Move Forward, but it was blocked from forming a government by a military-appointed senate.
Pheu Thai then reached an agreement with other military-backed groups to form a ruling coalition, shutting down Move Forward – and Mr Srettha finding himself leading it.
This is the latest in a series of high-profile recent court decisions.
Last week it disbanded the Move Forward group for making unconstitutional campaign promises and banning the party’s leaders – 11 MPs – from politics for ten years.
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