The nine-member Constitutional Court ruled unanimously to disband the ruling People's Power Party at around 12.30 today, prompting Premier Somchai Wongsawat, one
of the party's 37 executive members, to lose his post immediately.
The court said the 37 executive members will be banned from politics for five years, according to Article 237 of the Constitution aimed at punishing parties whose executive(s) were involved in electoral fraud. The party's deputy leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat had earlier been handed a guilty verdict by the Supreme Court.
The ruling means Somchai loses his premiership immediately. The two other parties in the coalition government -- Chat Thai and Machima -- were also disbanded in two parallel verdicts today.
The verdicts mean that Thai politics will undergo another major change although most of PPP's MPs are expected to join a newly-formed party, Peau Thai, to continue to hold the majority in the House.
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