Thai court dissolves 3 ruling parties

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Source: CCTV.com | 12-03-2008 09:01

Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has been ousted after a court ruling that dissolves the country's top three ruling parties for electoral fraud.

Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat gestures after a cabinet meeting in Chiang Mai province, north of Bangkok, December 2, 2008. (Stringer/Reuters)

The Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that all three party's 59 executives have been banned from the electoral process for five years.

A temporary cabinet will soon be announced to prepare for fresh parliamentary elections.

Thailand's political conflict reached a watershed on Tuesday, as the country's constitutional court forced Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from office.

The court found Somchai's People's Power Party, the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of committing fraud in the December 2007 elections.

Somchai accepted the verdict, which also makes Deputy Prime Minister Chaowarat Chandeerakul the caretaker cabinet leader.

Parliament will now have to pick a new prime minister within 30 days.