Pichit quits ahead of charter court decision on senators’ plea

The resignation letter, released to the media by Government House, showed that Pichit had spent 23 days in office after being given the position in a Cabinet reshuffle on April 28.
 
“Petitions have been filed against me, even though I was verified and believe I am fully qualified. This issue also affects the prime minister, who holds the constitutional authority to govern the country.

“To allow the country to move forward and not affect the PM’s authority to govern, I have decided not to seek personal benefit over that of the public,” the letter said. 

Soon after his resignation was released, the 65-year-old former minister told reporters he had not been pressured into quitting. When asked what his future plans were, he said with a smile: “Still want me to do other tasks?” 

However, there were some questions Pichit refused to answer, especially why he suddenly decided to quit after insisting on Tuesday morning that he would not resign as his appointment was legal and constitutional. 
 

The petition signed by some 40 senators was handed to the Constitutional Court last week, in which they questioned whether Srettha had violated political ethics in making Pichit the PM’s Office minister. 

The Constitutional Court was scheduled to review the petition on Thursday and decide if it would take up the case. 

In 2008, while representing ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra in court over a controversial land case, the former lawyer was charged with offering a cash bribe of 2 million baht contained in a snacks bag to court officials. 

He was sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court when he argued that the bag was only supposed to contain snacks. After completing the court-ordered jail term, the public prosecutors dropped the bribery charges against him.

However, his licence to practice law was revoked by the Law Society of Thailand for breaking its rules of conduct.