The Constitutional Court ruled yesterday in favour of Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, saying he can remain in office because his wife had reduced her private shareholdings to meet the legal limit within the set deadline.
The ruling was in response to an Election Commission (EC) petition which sought the court's opinion as to whether the foreign minister was in the wrong and had violated the constitution's 5% stock-holding rule.
According to the EC, Mr Don's wife Narirat owned more than 5% of a private company and this disqualified him from holding a cabinet post because the constitution prohibits a cabinet minister or their spouse from holding shares in excess of 5% in a company.
Section 187 of the 2017 charter prohibits a minister from holding shares.
If a cabinet minister wants to continue receiving benefits from a stockholding, he must inform the National Anti-Corruption Commission president within 30 days from the date of his or her appointment, and then transfer the shares to an asset-management company. The rule also applies to his or her spouse.
In its majority ruling, the court said there were two key points in this case: a requirement for cabinet ministers to meet the deadline and the amount of shares.
The court found that Mr Don's spouse had transferred some shares in Palavong Co and Palavong Re-entry Co to their son, Puen, in order to reduce her stake in the two companies to 4% by the deadline.
The shares were transferred on April 26 and 30, 2017 and within the 30-day deadline set with the promulgation of the 2017 Constitution on April 6, 2017, according to the court.
The ruling was read by Constitutional Court judge Boonsong Kulbupar.
"The court ruled ... that Mr Don's cabinet status doesn't have to end," said the court.
Speaking after the ruling, Mr Don said he could now fully concentrate on his work, especially preparations for the handover of the Asean chair from Singapore to Thailand on Nov 15.
