BANGKOK (BLOOMBERG, AFP) – Thailand’s Constitutional Court has rejected a petition from 110 lawmakers that claimed Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is ineligible for office.

Mr Prayut was entitled to seek to become premier after the March general election, according to a televised judgment on Wednesday (Sept 18) in Bangkok.

The petition argued Mr Prayut was a state official when he won the parliamentary vote for premier in June, and as such was ineligible to stand under constitutional rules.

“Today’s decision signals the court continues to support this government,” said Mr Paul Chambers, a Thai politics expert at Naresuan University’s College of Asean Community Studies. “This government is not going down any time soon.”

The court’s decision is the second in a week to go in favour of the prime minister.

On Sept 11, the judges declined to accept a complaint that Mr Prayut and his Cabinet breached the charter by failing to recite the full oath of office.

The court said the July 16 swearing-in ceremony that took place in front of King Maha Vajiralongkorn lay beyond its jurisdiction, and was a matter for the monarch and the Cabinet.

Former army chief Prayut led a military coup in 2014 and went on to rule with absolute executive power at the head of a junta.

The long-delayed general election took place earlier this year. The disputed poll ushered in a pro-military, civilian administration led by Mr Prayut.

He remained junta chief until he was sworn in as a civilian leader, leading to the lawmakers’ complaint.

The ruling said the junta was not a state agency and therefore Mr Prayut did not count as a state official.

Critics have decried what they describe as the military’s ongoing grip on power and continue to jab at the ruling coalition, which has a razor-thin parliamentary majority.

The new government has struggled to maintain a foothold as it is dogged by scandals – from a cabinet member being accused of serving time in jail for drug-dealing in Australia to Thais angered by a slow response to floods in the rice bowl north-east.

The opposition grilled the premier in parliament on Wednesday over the swearing-in controversy in an attempt to undermine the government’s legitimacy.

Some lawmakers called for his resignation, saying the incomplete oath showed his “ignorance of the constitution”, and questioned whether he can be trusted to uphold the rule of law.

It has “destroyed public confidence as well as his credibility”, Mr Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary general of the youth-driven Future Forward Party, said. “Prayut’s incomplete oath-taking makes the public doubt whether he will uphold and comply with the constitution,” he said.

The omission could also mean that the ex-junta chief “may have thought of staging another coup”, said Thai Liberal Party leader Sereepisuth Temeeyaves.

Mr Prayut was present for part of the parliament session, held only for one day without a vote before MPs go for recess on Thursday.

Speaking briefly after listening to MPs hammer him for several hours, Mr Prayut proclaimed “respect for all the principles in the constitution”.

There are lingering concerns about the risk of legislative gridlock given the opposition controls almost half the Lower House.

Difficulty passing key bills, such as the annual budget due to be debated next month, could exacerbate a sharp slowdown in the Thai economy.

Coups and street protests have plagued Thailand’s politics for almost two decades, with the putsch-happy army pressing the reset button on previous administrations.

But political divisions remain deep as Thais in the latest March election have shown a weariness towards a conservative arch-royalist elite, choosing instead to vote in MPs vowing to remove the military from politics.

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