Thai PM Ousted Over Leaked Phone Call

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed Paetongtarn Shinawatra from her position as prime minister, ruling that as the country's leader, she violated constitutional rules on ethics in a phone call with Cambodia's Senate President Hun Sen. The ruling means she immediately loses her job, which she had held for about a year, the AP reports. The 39-year-old's predecessor was dismissed by the same court. Paetongtarn, the country's youngest prime minister, was suspended from her duties on July 1 when the court agreed to hear the case against her, and Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai took over her responsibilities.

The Cabinet led by Phumtham is expected to stay in place on a caretaker basis until Parliament approves a new prime minister. The caretaker Cabinet could also dissolve Parliament and call a new election. Paetongtarn's leaked June 15 call with Hun Sen was aimed at easing tensions over competing claims to territory along their border, but sparked outrage in Thailand because Paetongtarn seemed overly friendly in discussing a matter of national security and appeared to malign a Thai army general. Paetongtarn is the sixth Thai prime minister from, or supported by, the Shinawatra family to be removed by courts of the military over the last 20 years of power struggles, reports Reuters.