Thai courts that have disbanded multiple governments are accused of setting back democracy

BANGKOK (AP) — Wednesday’s decision by Thailand’s Constitutional Court to oust Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin after just under a year in office was jarring, but not entirely a surprise given what critics say is the expanding overreach of unelected bodies.

Thais have long been accustomed to sudden changes of government due to military coups, numbering more than a dozen since the 1930s. But in the past two decades, they have increasingly seen such changes imposed by the courts, which have ousted four prime ministers and dissolved three election-winning political parties, often on narrow technical grounds.

In most cases the targets were viewed as challengers to the traditional royalist establishment, whose most powerful defenders are the army and the courts.

Other nominally independent state bodies such as the Election Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission also have controversially exercised constitutional powers to purge officeholders.

Wednesday’s court ruling ousted Srettha for breaching a law on ethical behavior by appointing a Cabinet member who had gone to prison in a 2008 case involving an alleged attempt to bribe a judge.

“The Constitutional Court’s decision to dismiss Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and his entire Cabinet exemplifies the overreach of undemocratic institutions within Thai politics and public life,” said Mookdapa Yangyuenpradorn, a human rights associate at the Fortify Rights group.

“This ruling is not an isolated incident but instead reflects a troubling pattern of unelected officials wielding disproportionate power over elected political leaders," she said.

The ruling was the court’s second major exercise of political power in about a week.

On Aug. 7, it dissolved the progressive Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in last year’s election but was blocked from taking power when it could not secure the support of another conservative institution, the Senate, whose members refused to endorse its candidate for prime minister.

The court said the party violated the constitution by proposing to amend a law against defaming the country’s royal family, which it said amounted to an attempt to overthrow the nation’s constitutional monarchy.

Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, described the court’s actions as “judicial coups.”

“The judiciary cemented its power over the legislative branch when they ruled against amending a law, and over the executive branch with the removal of the head of government over the appointment of one minister,” he told The Associated Press. Its rulings upset “the usual checks and balances in a democratic system," and show that Thailand is not a democracy, he said.

A reformist 1997 constitution underlined the independence of agencies and courts in a way that was intended to strengthen democracy by combating money politics that fostered corruption. The courts, especially the Constitutional Court, were supposed to serve as ultimate, nonpartisan arbiters.

However, these bodies in 21st century Thailand have been accused of using laws to cripple or crush opponents of the royalist establishment. A 2017 constitution enacted under a royalist military junta only strengthened their powers.

Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, a Thai constitutional law expert, wrote last year in the New Mandala blog, that the Election Commission and the Constitutional Court have engaged in “heavy-handed” intervention in Thai politics. They're known to be biased in favor of the military, and against the “democratic camp,” Khemthong said.

“They’ve become a potent weapon to harass a democratic leader," he said.

The royalist establishment opposes any group suspected of disloyalty to the country's monarchy. Its main target over the past couple of decades has been the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, though in recent years it also has gone against a new progressive political movement with no ties to Thaksin. Faced with what it deems a more existentialist threat from the new progressives, it has turned down the heat on Thaksin's bloc, which in turn has softened its once-strident populist tone.

Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire who formed his own Thai Rak Thai political party and promoted innovative populist policies to sweep to power in 2001, was ousted by a military coup in 2006, accused of abuse of power and corruption, as well as disrespect toward then-King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

His ouster sharply polarized Thai politics, setting off years of contention between his supporters and opponents, sometimes violently in the streets, at the ballot box and in the courts.

Since his ouster, his Thai Rak Thai Party was dissolved in 2007 for violations of election laws, and its successor, the People’s Power Party, made a political comeback but was dissolved in 2008, after its deputy chairman was convicted of electoral fraud.

Two of the People's Power Party prime ministers came and went in quick succession. One of them, Samak Sundaravej, was ousted when the Constitutional Court found he violated a conflict of interest law by continuing to accept nominal pay for hosting a TV cooking show.

Thaksin’s forces in the 2011 general election staged another political comeback, in their third incarnation as the Pheu Thai Party, with Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, taking the post of prime minister.

Aggressive street protests undermined her authority, and in May 2014, the Constitutional Court forced her out of office when it found her guilty of abuse of power for transferring a senior civil servant. A few weeks later her Pheu Thai government was ousted by a military coup.

In 2020, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Future Forward party, a new progressive party that won the third highest popular vote in the 2019 election. The court ruled that it had violated a law on donations to political parties. As in the other party dissolution cases, its executives were served with bans on political activities for several years.

The party was reconstituted as the Move Forward party, which suffered a similar fate earlier this month but quickly reconstituted itself under the name of the People’s Party.

“In what kind of democracy is a court, endorsed directly or indirectly by coup makers, given the power to disenfranchise 14 million voters by dissolving their chosen party and unseat a democratically elected prime minister, all within one week?” Napon Jatusripitak, a political science researcher at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said in reaction to the court’s most recent actions.

Its rulings, he said, “remind us that entrenched institutions continue to check the power of elected forces in Thailand. Until a broader consensus is reached on their overreach, no real democracy can take root in Thailand.”

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FILE - Thailand's Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, center, talks to media during a press conference at the party's headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE - Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, center, arrives at Don Muang airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE - Former leader of Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, center, shakes hands with his supporters at the party's headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE - Thailand's new Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej exits his residence in Bangkok, Thailand, on Jan. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE - Thailand's former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at the Supreme Court to make her final statements in a trial on a charge of criminal negligence in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE - Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin arrives at Ploenchit market in Bangkok, Thailand, on Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, center, talks to reporters during a press conference at Government house in Bangkok, Thailand after a court removed Srettha from office over an ethical violation Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, center, talks to reporters during a press conference at Government house in Bangkok, Thailand after a court removed Srettha from office over an ethical violation Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Israeli strikes on Palestinian territories have killed more than two-dozen Palestinians on Wednesday, according to local officials. They say an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and at least 20 people, including 16 women and children, were killed in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Tuesday's strike on a tent camp in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone killed at least 19 people.

The Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. They abducted another 250 and are still holding around 100. Around a third of them are believed to be dead.

Here's the latest:

TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military says two Israeli soldiers died and seven were injured when their helicopter crashed in the southern Gaza Strip.

The military said Wednesday that the overnight helicopter crash was not the result of enemy fire and is under investigation. The helicopter was on a mission to evacuate wounded soldiers from Gaza for treatment in Israeli hospitals.

There have been 340 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began in Gaza in late October, at least 50 of whom have been killed in accidents within Gaza — not as a result of combat with Palestinian militants, according to the military.

JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says dozens of Palestinian patients were expected to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday by way of an Israeli crossing, in order to travel to the United Arab Emirates for medical care.

The official says over 200 people, mostly children, are expected to leave, along with relatives to accompany them. It is the biggest exit of medical patients through Israel since the war erupted nearly a year ago.

Gaza has been completely sealed off since May, when Israeli forces captured the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, including the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the coastal strip, leading to its closure. Rafah had been the only entry or exit point for Palestinians, including medical patients, since the start of the war.

Since then, Israel has only allowed a small number of children and accompanying relatives to leave for medical treatment.

Israel’s military offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has gutted Gaza’s already fragile health system. With few exceptions, Israel has barred Gaza’s Palestinians from entering Israel throughout the war.

The official says the patients are leaving through the Kerem Shalom crossing and heading to the Ramon airport in southern Israel, where they will board a flight to the UAE.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement by Israeli authorities.

— By Josef Federman in Jerusalem;

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Hamas released the first public statement from Yahya Sinwar since he was appointed its overall leader in August.

In the written statement late Tuesday, Sinwar congratulated Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on his reelection and thanked the country for its support for the Palestinian cause. Algeria, the Arab representative on the United Nations Security Council, circulated a draft resolution in May demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and a halt to Israel’s military operation in the southern city of Rafah.

A hard-liner within Hamas, Sinwar would have to approve any potential agreement for a cease-fire and hostage release. The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent most of the year trying to broker such a deal but the negotiations have repeatedly stalled.

Sinwar was one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. He has not been seen since the start of the war and is believed to be alive and hiding inside the territory. Israel has vowed to kill him.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — An Israeli airstrike has killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say.

The Israeli military said it targeted a group of militants in the northern city of Tubas early Wednesday.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank confirmed the toll but does not say whether those killed by Israeli fire are militants or civilians.

Israel has stepped up its military raids across the territory in recent weeks and says it is working to dismantle militant groups and prevent attacks. Palestinians say such operations are aimed at cementing Israel’s seemingly open-ended military rule over the territory.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people, including 16 women and children.

An airstrike early Wednesday killed 11 people, including six siblings ranging from 21 months to 21 years old, according to the European Hospital, which received the casualties. The dead from the strike near the southern city of Khan Younis included three other women, a child and a man, according to the hospital.

A strike late Tuesday on a home in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza killed nine people, including six women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Civil Defense first responders. The Civil Defense says the home belonged to Akram al-Najjar, a professor at the al-Quds Open University, who survived the strike.

Israel says it only targets militants, claiming 17,000 militant deaths without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters are embedded in dense residential neighborhoods. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

The Health Ministry says Israel’s offensive, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has killed at least 41,020 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded nearly 95,000. It does not distinguish between fighters and civilians but says more than half of those killed were women and children.

Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7 and abducted around 250. Around 100 hostages are still held in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Blindfolded and bounded protesters take part in a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

This undated photo released by the Israel Defense Forces shows the Gaza tunnel where it says six Israeli hostages were recently killed by Hamas militants. (Israeli Army via AP)

Mourners pray over the covered bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in the Muwasi, outside the hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Muwasi, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. An Israeli strike killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted "significant" Hamas militants, allegations denied by the militant group. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Muwasi, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. An Israeli strike killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted "significant" Hamas militants, allegations denied by the militant group. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners carry the covered bodies of Palestinians who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in the Muwasi, outside the hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)