Thailand’s Srettha next in firing line as country struggles to shrug off political chaos

Here is an explainer of what is going in Thailand, a kingdom where judges and the elderly conservative power holders whose interests they underpin, can’t – or won’t – find an off-ramp from two decades of political chaos:

Srettha faces an abrupt exit from office if the Constitutional Court decides that he violated ethical standards by appointing a lawyer to a cabinet post despite a previous stint in jail.

The lawyer, Pichit Chuenban, once represented Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire two-time prime minister who still wields considerable influence despite his advancing years (75) and lack of formal political role.

Srettha, a real estate tycoon with no previous frontline political role, denies wrongdoing and appears confident he will survive Wednesday’s ruling.

He emerged as prime minister after last May’s election, despite his Pheu Thai party unexpectedly losing the election as voters overwhelmingly backed the radical reform agenda of the now-dissolved Move Forward party.

After weeks of wrangling, Pheu Thai jumped ship from a pro-democracy coalition led by Move Forward. Instead, it joined hands with its one-time conservative enemies to form a government with Srettha at the helm, which froze out Move Forward.

Since then, Pheu Thai has been accused of abandoning the democracy cause for its own political gain.

Why Srettha is in the firing line given the apparent deal to get him into office is something of a mystery. The complaint against Srettha was brought by 40 former senators aligned with a veteran Thai power broker – former general Prawit Wongsuwon, another elderly back room player who hit 80 this week.

Prawit has seen his influence wane since Thaksin returned to Thailand.

If Srettha is removed from office, he is likely to