27 student groups and civil society organizations issued a statement last week condemning the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin as a “silent coup.”

Srettha was dismissed last Wednesday (14 August) after the Constitutional Court ruled that he lacked integrity and had violated ethical standards by appointing to the Cabinet Pichit Chuenban, a lawyer who had previously been imprisoned for contempt of court in 2008 and had his license suspended for 5 years for allegedly attempting to bribe Supreme Court officials. Srettha’s dismissal meant that his entire Cabinet was also dismissed.

Pichit is a former lawyer with a close relationship with the Shinawatra family. He was entrusted with countering lawsuits against Thaksin. During the former PM Yingluck Shinawatra administration, he served as both an MP and leader of the legal team to represent her in the rice-pledging scheme scandal.

Last Thursday (15 August), the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration published a joint statement by 27 student groups, activist groups, and civil society networks noting that ethics have been so widely interpreted that there is no clear standard for how it is to be measured. Meanwhile, it cannot be denied that there is a relationship between ethics and the law. Political ethics enshrined in the Constitution, in particular, cannot go against the reason for the law’s existence under the rule of law and democratic principles, which are public justice, protection of rights and freedom and equality before the law.

The joint statement therefore condemned the ruling as a “silent coup” and called for this to be the last incident of its kind.

“We believe that the true owner of power is the people, not an independent organization appointed without any links to the people which rules to dismiss anyone from their position or dissolve political parties the people played a role in forming,” said the statement.