One of the three minority judges working on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s tenure case said “morality must come before the law for good governance”.
Constitutional Court justice Twekiat Menakanist said he believes a good government needs to strictly observe ethical values to end any “crisis of faith” the public may have.
His judgment said that intolerance of ideas and frequent changes to the “social contract” can make people lose faith in that agreement.
Twekiat, 69, had been a lecturer at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Law between 1975 and 2013 before joining the Constitutional Court. He became a professor of law in 2011.
On Friday, the Constitutional Court ruled that General Prayut can be reinstated as prime minister because he has not served the maximum eight-year term stipulated in the current charter.
The nine judges voted 6:3 in favour of Prayut.
Unlike previous charters, the current Constitution clearly stipulates a time limit for the PM’s tenure. Its Article 158 states: “The prime minister shall not hold office for more than eight years in total, whether or not consecutively. However, this shall not include the period during which the prime minister carries out duties after vacating the office.”
