The offence is regarded as an abuse of power under the previous 2007 Constitution and a severe ethical violation under the Prime Minister Office’s Code of Ethics for Civil Servants.

Sukampol, a former assistant Air Force commander-in-chief, served as defence minister in a government led by the Pheu Thai Party’s Yingluck Shinawatra.

Of the NLA members who attended yesterday’s meeting, 159 voted to impeach Sukampol, with 27 voting against. There was one abstention.

At least three-fifths of the existing 217 NLA members, or 131 votes, were required to impeach him.

The impeachment means Sukampol is banned from politics for five years, during which time he will be unable to assume any political or government position.

Sukampol yesterday shrugged off the NLA’s decision, saying that the impeachment would have no impact on him because he was not interested in being involved in politics anymore.

“I am not a professional politician and I have no plan to contest future elections to become an MP,” he said.

He also said that he had heard there was much lobbying for the NLA members to impeach him.