“The King (…) has reduced Thaksin Shinawatra’s prison term to one year,” the government announced on Friday, September 1. Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was sentenced to eight years for corruption. He returned to his country after having been in self-exile for fifteen years to avoid legal proceedings. A return that coincides with the appointment as Prime Minister of Srettha Thavisin, from Pheu Thai, a party founded by Mr. Shinawatra and controlled by his family.
For the Thai government, his sentence reduction was pronounced “for him to put his expertise and experience at the service of the development of the country”. Mention was also made of the fragile health of the former leader. The speed of the sovereign’s decision has fueled rumors, which have been circulating for several weeks, of a pact between Mr. Shinawatra’s entourage and the army. “The fact is, he was a prime minister who worked for the benefit of the country and the people. He is loyal to the monarchical institution,” the government added.
Mr. Shinawatra is a major figure in Thai politics, long divided between his supporters from the rural North and Northeast (the “reds”) and his conservative opponents (the “yellows”). The former leader, in power from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced to eight years in prison for three cases of corruption and abuse of power tried in his absence, relating to his management of the country and his former company, Shin Corp.
Pheu Thai has allied with the military for the conquest of power
The former owner of Manchester City football club, whose fortune is said to be around $2 billion, built his popularity around pioneering redistribution policies in a kingdom plagued by inequality. His opponents accuse him of having mixed his personal affairs with those of the State. Despite two sweeping victories, in 2001 and 2005, Shinawatra was eventually overthrown by the military in 2006.
From abroad, the telecom magnate continued to exert his influence, through Pheu Thai, who notably raised to power his little sister, Yingluck, also victim of a coup d’etat by the generals in 2014. .
But Pheu Thai had to ally himself with formations favorable to the army (who lost the elections), his former opponents, who will occupy several ministries: an outstretched hand considered as a counterpart to favor the return of Mr. Shinawatra, according to analysts. This controversial coalition, which angered part of the “reds”, excludes the reformists of Move Forward, winners of the ballot, whose program is considered too radical by the military, who dominate the institutions.
But Move Forward, popular among the new generations, failed to obtain the nomination as Prime Minister of its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, because of the resistance of conservative circles who oppose his project to reform the law on lèse-majesté.
