Thai court to rule if Prayuth has overstayed PM’s term limit

By GRANT PECK
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court is set to decide whether Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has exceeded the eight-year term limit of his job and must leave office immediately. A ruling in Prayuth’s favor is considered likely but risks invigorating a protest movement long opposed to the former army general who came to power in a 2014 military coup. The protest movement plans a demonstration Friday ahead of the afternoon ruling. Prayuth was suspended from his duties last month and his spokesperson says he’ll respect the court’s decision. At issue is when the eight-year term limit expires — when he became prime minister in the military government in 2014, when the current constitution took effect in 2017 or after the last election in 2019.