Transport minister and deputy prime minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit began his engagements by attending a ceremony in Bangkok celebrating the longevity of the prime minister’s office.
During a brief ceremony open to media Suriya declined to respond to queries asking how he felt about his ephemeral leadership, which caps a decades-long political career.
The Constitutional Court said Tuesday there was “sufficient cause to suspect” Paetongtarn breached ministerial ethics in a diplomatic spat with Cambodia, suspending her pending a probe that may last months.
The 38-year-old Paetongtarn is the daughter of political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra, whose family and party have been jousting with Thailand’s conservative establishment since the early 2000s.
“I don’t really know the guy, but I don’t care anymore who becomes prime minister,“ 54-year-old motorbike taxi driver Paitoon Kaewdee told AFP.
Suriya’s time as acting premier is due to end with a cabinet reshuffle already scheduled before Tuesday’s court bombshell.
The ruling Pheu Thai party said late Tuesday that Phumtham will take over after the cabinet reshuffle because he will receive a deputy prime minister title that is higher in the order of succession than Suriya.
“I want a new election,“ complained 40-year-old Bangkok office worker Chatchai Summabut. “This country needs stability.”
Paetongtarn -- who became prime minister only last August -- assigned herself the culture minister position in the new cabinet before she was suspended, meaning she is set to keep a perch in the upper echelons of power.
But analysts say Paetongtarn’s pause from office represents a dramatic waning of the Shinawatras’ influence, even though the acting prime ministers are still considered their loyal lieutenants.
Paetongtarn has been hobbled over a longstanding territorial dispute between Thailand and Cambodia, which boiled over into cross-border clashes in May, killing one Cambodian soldier.
A conservative party abandoned her ruling coalition -- sparking the cabinet reshuffle -- while her approval rating plunged and thousands mustered to protest over the weekend.
Conservative lawmakers accused her of kowtowing to Cambodia and undermining the military, entering a case with the Constitutional Court alleging she breached the constitution’s ministerial ethics code.
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