Bangkok, Thailand – Thailand’s Constitutional Court is to decide whether to remove suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office over a phone call with Cambodia’s former leader in a ruling that could deal a fatal blow to the embattled Shinawatra dynasty and plunge the Southeast Asian kingdom into political turmoil.

An unfavourable verdict for Paetongtarn on Friday would make her the fifth prime minister since 2008 to be stripped of office by Thailand’s judges, who critics say defend the interests of the country’s royalist-military establishment.

The move could also potentially pave the way for early elections.

Friday’s ruling is also the second in three high-stakes court cases against Paetongtarn, 39, and her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The 76-year-

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