The Pheu Thai Party has accused the Constitutional Court of being part of a "new form of coup" and setting a dangerous precedent which threatens to derail democracy.
The party launched the attack after the charter court yesterday ordered Yingluck Shinawatra to step down as prime minister, along with nine of her cabinet members, over what it found was the illegal transfer of a civil servant in 2011.
Pheu Thai claimed the court ruling is part of a concerted process by its opponents to derail the democratic system, and urged the public to protest against it.
Party legal expert and strategist Bhokin Bhalakula stressed the conspiracy claim as he announced the party's stance on the ruling yesterday.
He said the charter court ruling set a precedent which went beyond the law and the spirit of the constitution, and which disrupted the duty of the administrative branch.
The ruling was delivered with unusual speed and did not allow Ms Yingluck to provide enough witnesses in her defence, he added.
He said the court's findings were in line with statements made by the anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee and its allies, which have been battling for the past six months to topple the Yingluck administration.
Mr Bhokin said Pheu Thai was urging the public to oppose the anti-democracy conspiracy through constitutional means such as conducting demonstrations and filing complaints and lawsuits.
The party believed the Constitutional Court as well as the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) — which is looking into a separate complaint against Ms Yingluck stemming from her role in the troubled rice-pledging scheme — had rushed the cases against the government, Mr Bhokin said.
He said it adds weight to Pheu Thai's long-running insistence that concerted efforts were being made to overthrow the democratic system.
Mr Bhokin said these efforts were the work of some political parties, the PDRC and some independent agencies installed under the charter. "This is the new form of coup, which is built to foster the new ruling system," he said.
Pheu Thai secretary-general Phumtham Wechayachai took a more positive spin, saying it was good that the court had not removed the entire cabinet, which would have created a power vacuum.