2023-08-22 05:04:20
The 74-year-old billionaire, in power between 2001 and 2006 before being overthrown in a coup, returned to Thailand on Tuesday following fifteen years abroad to escape justice.
Former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, a figure as divisive as it is popular, returned to Thailand on Tuesday, August 22, following fifteen years abroad to escape justice, a few hours before a new vote for the prime minister. Returning to the country following fifteen years of self-imposed exile, he must spend eight years in prison for three convictions pronounced in his absence, announced Tuesday the Supreme Court.
The 74-year-old billionaire, in power between 2001 and 2006 before being overthrown by a coup, must be taken into custody in Bangkok, according to the statement from the country’s highest court.
His jet landed around 9 a.m. Tuesday (0200 GMT) at Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok, according to public television footage. He bowed to a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, then waved to the hundreds of red-clad supporters waiting with flags and songs, before being escorted away by officials in the legal proceedings once morest him.
This return launches a crucial day for Thailand, deputies and senators voting in the followingnoon to appoint a new prime minister, three months following the legislative elections of May 14 which inflicted a stinging setback on the generals in power for almost a decade. . The only candidate for the post, under the banner of an opposition party associated with the Shinawatra family, Srettha Thavisin presents himself at the head of a controversial coalition mixing pro-democracy and pro-army formations, which must bring together a torn kingdom. , of which Thaksin Shinawatra is the embodiment of deep divisions.
Ready to face justice
The former owner of the Manchester City football club has polarized political life for more than twenty years between the “reds” (his supporters) and the “yellows” (conservatives loyal to the monarchy). “The day you’ve been waiting for has finally come”his sister Yingluck Shinawatra, another former prime minister, wrote on her Facebook page on Tuesday, with a photo of Thaksin, dark suit and red tie, in a private jet. “I am a real red shirt. Whenever they ask for my support, I’ll always be there for them (…) I don’t just like Thaksin, I love him.”said Karuna Wantang, a 70-year-old retired civil servant from Nong Khai (northeast).
The charismatic businessman, last seen in Thailand in 2008, has said he is ready to face justice so he can see his grandchildren, although he has long spoken out once morest political lawsuits that seek to away from power, in favor of the military-royalist elites. Abroad, he remained an influential player behind the scenes, via his family-controlled Pheu Thai party, which continues to capitalize on Thaksin’s popularity in the northern and northeastern countryside. His return coincides with the possible election of a candidate Pheu Thai as prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, deputies and senators gathered to vote from 15:00 (08:00 GMT).
In July, they rejected Pita Limjaroenrat, winner of the election with the Move Forward party, because of his reform program deemed too radical vis-à-vis the monarchy. Coming second in the ballot, Pheu Thai, in opposition in recent years, has tried to avoid the blockages of a system in the hands of the conservative establishment, by mounting a coalition of eleven parties which includes formations favorable to the army from the outgoing government. But this union betrayed its promise never to unite with the military, and angered some of its supporters who, like the majority of Thais, voted to oust them from power.
A taboo subject
The military carried out two coups once morest prime ministers from the Shinawatra family, Thaksin in 2006, and his sister Yingluck in 2014, the last elected civilian leader to date. The two camps came together following the breakthrough of Move Forward which, supported by the younger generations, overcame the divide between “yellows” and “reds” at the polls. Move Forward has announced that it will remain in opposition.
Srettha Thavisin, a novice in politics, assured that he was not going to touch the law on lèse-majesté, a taboo subject in Thailand where the king enjoys a status of quasi-divinity. The property magnate, 60, prefers issues related to poverty and inequality, highlighting his background in business. Thailand, lacking in structural reforms, has a lower growth rate than its Indonesian or Vietnamese neighbours, and is suffering from the uncertainties linked to its political future.
Srettha needs a majority of votes from both chambers, in this case 500 elected deputies and 250 senators appointed by the army. If he has the support of a majority of deputies, his appointment requires the rallying of around sixty senators.
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