Constitutional Court sends strongest message

There have been verdicts that ended prime ministers’ tenures and wiped away Cabinets, but the ruling on Paetongtarn Shinawatra was perhaps the most resounding from the Constitutional Court when it comes to rulers’ “ethics”.

Late Samak Sundaravej was removed as prime minister after starring in a TV cookery show. Srettha Thavisin had to leave Government House due to a Cabinet appointment that he possibly might not know everything about.

Paetongtarn was different. Of course, the aforementioned two cases also concerned ethics of political office holders, yet hers is essentially an Exhibit A for the court to use in preaching ethical standards for the people in governments.

It’s neither cooking or appointment of someone with a controversial background. It’s about bilateral “negotiations” between her and a leader of a country hers was having an armed conflict with.

Paetongtarn had told Hun Sen, on record, that a Thai military commander was “the opposition” and the Cambodian strongman should tell her what he wanted in exchange for peace. Both countries were also being preoccupied with border closure that was impacting lives and businesses on both sides.

Her court defence centres on Thai politeness toward seniors particularly those who were nice to your family, and “misinterpreted” I-could-do-what-you-ask offer that could have facilitated constructive negotiations.

Paetongtarn’s glimmer of hope came around half way into the court’s verdict, which was read out and broadcast to the whole nation by TV outlets and websites. It cleared her of being dishonest, saying actions taken by the Thai authorities afterwards were not improper or influenced by her intimacy with Hun Sen.

In other words, border activities did not show undue interventions that could benefit Cambodia and surprised Thai authorities responsible.

But when it came to “dignity” and possible conflict of interest, Paetongtarn appeared certainly doomed even before the court finished the verdict reading.

Reading between the court’s lines, it was all right for Paetongtarn to use her past relationship with Hun Sen for national interest, but it was unethical if she used it for her own political survival which was not necessarily in accordance with Thailand’s security situations.

The court cited her complaints made known to Hun Sen during the phone conversation that her political situation was very bad at the time. That meant, in the court’s eyes, that she was thinking about herself, not the nation.

The judges also noted that it was not ethical for her to tell a hostile foreign country that her government and the Thai military were not totally on the same page. That was a crucial bit of information that Phnom Penh could exploit whether it was right or wrong, the court said.

“Dignity” came out in the verdict a few times although the court did not clearly charge her with disgracing Thailand. There were hints, though, that the court saw her relationship with Hun Sen as a potential cause for big conflict of interest.

There was Paetongtarn the ordinary citizen, whose right to make a private phone call to her overseas “uncle” should be respected, and there was Paetongtarn the prime minister who should let her national security people know every detail of the phone call.

Apparently Paetongtarn did not tell Thailand’s top security officials everything, the court concluded.

The verdict mentioned several bilateral issues like online communications at the border and scamming rackets that require both countries to tackle seriously. The judges did not accuse the Thai administration of not being serious, but in their verdict, they stressed that “public trust” was important.

It was the court’s strongest statement to date on ethics. However, Cambodia can be anything but relieved that the current Thai government is out of the way.

The collapse of the Paetongtarn government is not something for the Phnon Penh leaders to celebrate. It’s the contrary, in fact.

Certainly, the next Bangkok administration will not be led by anyone who used to be guests at Hun Sen’s house. How much control the Shinawatras will still have over the new Thai government depends on what happens in the next few days, particularly how the “14th floor controversy” is settled