Thailand's Constitutional Court suspended the prime minister from his duties on Wednesday while it decides whether the man who led a military coup in 2014 has violated the country's term limits.
It's considered unlikely that the court will permanently force Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha out since it has generally ruled in the government's favour in a slew of political cases.
But any decision to allow Prayuth to stay on would risk invigorating a protest movement that has long sought to oust him and reopening deep fissures in Thai politics that have sometimes led to violence. While Prayuth initially came to power in a coup, he won the job legally after a general election in 2019.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, a close political ally of Prayuth and part of the same military clique that that staged the coup, will take over as acting prime minister, according to Anucha Burapachaisri, a spokesman for the prime minister's office. Anucha added that Prayuth would respect the court's decision and called on others to do the same.
The choice of Prawit, who is closely associated with Prayuth, is not likely to mollify critics.
Prayuth's detractors contend he has violated a law that limits prime ministers to eight years in power -- a threshold they say he hit Tuesday since he officially became prime minister on Aug. 24, 2014.
But his supporters contend his term should be counted from when the current constitution, which contains the term-limit provision, came into effect in 2017. Another interpretation would start the clock in 2019, following the election.
A group that is among the leaders of the main protest movement seeking to unseat Prayuth again demanded that he step down on Wednesday.
"No Prayuth. No Prawit. No military coup government," the group known as Ratsadon, or The People, said while issuing a new call for protest. But only a small number of protesters came in Wednesday in response.
A earlier statement from the group called the last eight years "the darkest and most bitter times. A period under the rule of a tyrant who took power away from the people. A tyrant who inherits power through a mechanism without democratic legitimacy."
The case -- in which the court is deciding whether a coup-leader has stayed in power too long -- highlighted Thailand's unusual political culture. The country has been rocked by a series of coups, but often the soldiers who overthrow elected leaders then try to legitimize their rule and defuse opposition by holding elections and abiding by constitutional restrictions.
By a vote of 5 to 4 on Wednesday, the court agreed to suspend Prayuth from his duties while it considers a petition from opposition lawmakers. The court's announcement said Prayuth must submit his defence within 15 days of receiving a copy of the complaint, but it did not say when it would rule.
Prayuth will remain in his other post of defence minister, according to Anucha, the spokesman.
Polls show Prayuth's popularity is at a low ebb, with voters blaming him for mishandling the economy and botching Thailand's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I am very pleased. Gen. Prayuth has stayed for a long time and had no vision to develop the country at all," Wuttichai Tayati, a 28-year-old who works in marketing, said while protesting outside of the government headquarters on Wednesday. "At least, taking him out for now might make Thailand move forward a bit."
In 2020, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to demand that Prayuth and his Cabinet resign, while also calling for the constitution to be amended and the monarchy to be reformed.
Several confrontations between the student-driven protest movement and authorities became violent. A legal crackdown on activists further embittered Prayuth's critics.
Small protests appealing again to Prayuth to step down and the Constitutional Court to force him to if he didn't have been held daily since Sunday, but drawn only small crowds.
Even if he does, replacing him with Prawit will not resolve the standoff.
In addition to his close association with the military clique that seized power, Prawit, 77, was tainted by allegations he had illegally amassed a collection of luxury watches he couldn't possibly afford on a government salary, though a court accepted his explanation they were gifts and cleared him of wrongdoing.
Whether Prawit would or could take the prime minister's post if the court rules against Prayuth is not clear. He has publicly acknowledged his health is not good and is better known as a behind-the-scenes political organizer.
Also, some legal scholars think Prayuth's replacement would have to come from the small pool of candidates that the country's political parties nominated for the job after the 2019 general election. That list did not include Prawit, though it appears possible he could be nominated in case of a deadlock.
If he is not forced out of office, Prayuth must call a new election by March next year, though he has the option of calling one before that.
The eight-year term limit was meant to target former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist billionaire who was ousted by a 2006 military coup but whose political machine remains powerful. The 2014 coup ousted the government of Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
Court rulings have forced three prime ministers associated with Thaksin from office, including Yingluck.
Thailand's traditional conservative ruling class, including the military, felt that Thaksin's popularity posed a threat to the country's monarchy as well as their own influence. The courts have been stalwart defenders of the established order and ruled consistently against Thaksin and other challengers.
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Associated Press writer Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this report
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