Thai Prime Minister Yingluck_May_2014_News articles

5/10/2014 BBC News - Profile: Yingluck Shinawatra

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ASIA7 May 2014 Last updated at 05:19 ET

Profile: Yingluck Shinawatra

Yingluck Shinawatra became Thailand's first female prime minister when she led the Pheu Thai party to victory in the July2011 general election.

She remained in the post for nearly three years, until the Constitutional Court forced her to step down in May 2014 after finding herguilty of abusing her power.

The former businesswoman, who is 46, was following as PM in the footsteps of her more famous brother, tycoon-turned-politicianThaksin Shinawatra.

Pheu Thai's landslide victory in the July 2011 general election came a year after violent protests on the streets of Bangkok. UnderMs Yingluck, Thailand enjoyed relative stability for just over two years.

But a failed attempt to pass a political amnesty bill in November 2013 reignited simmering tensions, fuelling long-standing claimsthat her government is controlled by her brother, who was ousted from power and lives in self-imposed exile.

Protesters returned to the streets, leaving Thailand's bitter divisions once again exposed.

Ms Yingluck called a snap election, which was disrupted and later annulled. The battle to oust her then moved to the courts, whichher supporters say are biased.

'Two competencies'Before the 2011 election, Ms Yingluck, who has two degrees in politics, had never run for office or held a government post.

She had until then pursued a corporate career, formerly as managing director of AIS, the telecommunications firm her brotherfounded, and managing director of SC Asset Company, a family firm involved in property.

Critics were quick to point out her political inexperience, saying her main qualification appeared to be the fact that she was theyoungest sister of Thaksin Shinawatra, the telecommunications billionaire who was ousted as prime minister by the military in 2006and jailed in absentia for corruption.

They suggested her primary role was to marshal the Thaksin faithful - the mainly poor rural voters who kept him in power - and thenserve as his proxy as he governed from overseas exile.

Ms Yingluck performed well on the campaign trail - people seemed to warm to her.

In July 2011, the same voters who had put her brother in power backed the Pheu Thai party, which formed a ruling coalition.

Speaking to the BBC after her election win, Ms Yingluck said she planned to work hard.

"My family is a political family plus I have experience in business - I have been running a listed company for 20 years - so I will usethe two competencies together to help Thailand to improve, especially in terms of the economy," she said.

After several politically turbulent years in Thailand, people would trust her, she said, as long as the government preserved the rule oflaw and treated people fairly.

"As long as we solve problems, I hope Thai people will give me a chance to prove myself and show my sincerity," she said.

5/10/2014 BBC News - Profile: Yingluck Shinawatra

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Three months later, she faced her first challenge as parts of Thailand were hit by severe flooding.

More than 500 people died in the north of the country and a fifth of the capital ended up under water, forcing her government to

announce a 100bn baht ($4bn: £2.5bn) recovery plan amid accusations it had been unprepared.

In early 2012, her government approved a compensation fund for victims of recent political unrest - allocating 2bn baht ($63m,

£40.8m) to families of the deceased, as well as those who were hurt or "unfairly detained".

Ms Yingluck was also seen to establish cordial ties with two key institutions, the royal palace and the military.

But a rice subsidy policy, whereby her government bought rice from farmers at above market rates to boost rural incomes, hit

Thailand's rice exports hard. Her opponents said the programme was rife with corruption and many farmers were left out of pocket.

Snap poll

It was, however, the political amnesty bill that provided the trigger for protests which foreshadowed Ms Yingluck's demise.

Her government proposed legislation allowing amnesty for those convicted of political violence that took place after the coup that

ousted Thaksin Shinawatra, including the mass street protests that paralysed Bangkok in 2010.

It proved unpopular with some of her traditional supporters, who argued it would allow those responsible for the deaths of civilian

protesters in 2010 to go free.

But it sparked opposition fury, amid fears the ruling party would use it to allow Thaksin Shinawatra back into Thailand without having

to serve his jail term.

And the firm conviction among opposition supporters that Ms Yingluck's government was controlled by her brother caused some to

erupt onto the streets in protest.

Ms Yingluck appealed for calm - and allowed the amnesty bill to fail in the Senate. But that did not appease the protesters, who want

her government replaced with an unelected "people's council".

The government's decision to call a snap election for 2 February also failed to quell anger. The ruling party was expected to win the

election and the opposition boycotted the polls, which were then declared unconstitutional.

Fresh elections were announced but the opposition called for them to be delayed and a referendum on reforms to be held.

Then the courts stepped in and removed Ms Yingluck over the transfer of her national security chief. Whether this will appease the

protesters, however, and end Thailand's political crisis remains to be seen.

More Asia stories

Ousted Thai PM supporters hold rally

[/news/world-asia-27354521]

Police are on standby as the first big pro-government march after the ousting of Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra takes place in Bangkok.

Campaigning ends in Indian election

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Bin Laden case lawyer steps down

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Thailand's Aristocratic Dead-Enders The royalists who can't win an election stage a judicial coup. May 7, 2014 12:52 p.m. ET Thailand's new caretaker prime minister, Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, ended his first full day Thursday as the nation's leader. The WSJ's Ramy Inocencio asks Asia Foundation's Kim McQuay if the removal of Yingluck will ease the political crisis.

Royalist forces struck another blow against Thai democracy Wednesday when the country's Constitutional Court staged a judicial coup and removed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatrafrom office. Her supposed crime: having impure motives when she transferred a bureaucrat three years ago. For the third time in a decade, this unaccountable institution controlled by the aristocracy has removed an elected leader for dubious reasons. The justices' meddling rewards the bad behavior of the ironically named royalist Democrat Party. It boycotted the general election in February after several of its leaders led street protests aimed at overthrowing democracy and installing a ruling council made up of the country's elite.

In March, the Constitutional Court nullified the result of the election on the grounds that protesters prevented it from being held on the same day across the country. The opposition has blocked a revote, leaving the country in political limbo with a caretaker government. Now that the court has removed Ms. Yingluck and nine other ministers from office, Deputy Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan will soldier on. But the National Anti-Corruption Commission might remove him too.

The situation would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous. The conflict has emboldened extremists on both sides who threaten to start a civil war. That would pit rural parts of the country, particularly in the north, that support the populist Shinawatra family against the pro-royalist urban areas and the south. The pro-Shinawatra forces won the last five elections, so new elections are unlikely to change the outcome. The military, which last staged a coup in 2006, is divided and reluctant to seize power again.

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Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.Reuters

That leaves the aristocracy with institutional power centers guaranteed by an undemocratic constitution created by the military junta in 2007. The Anti-Corruption Commission and several other bodies can also stymie the will of the voters, but the Constitutional Court is the key because it has blocked all attempts so far to revise the constitution.

It appears the only near-term solution that will preserve Thailand's fragile democracy and avoid bloodshed is a negotiated settlement. The Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva opened the door to talks two weeks ago, and Ms. Yingluck welcomed the move. If the aristocracy's prerogatives are guaranteed and the Democrats given a few posts, it's possible that the conflict can be shelved for a few more years.

However, such a peace will remain precarious because the two sides hold fundamentally incompatible visions for Thailand's future. Ms. Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra upset the country's feudal order when he mobilized ordinary Thais to demand real power in 2001. That genie can't be put back in the bottle, even if the Shinawatras are purged from politics.

The Constitutional Court's decision this week is a last gasp of the old regime, discrediting itself as it fights to hold back the forces of democracy. One can hope that a wiser leader will emerge from the royalist camp who will realize this and stop trying to overthrow democracy. While the Democrats may be unable to win elections in the near term, they can still wield considerable influence and restrain the worst populist impulses of the pro-Shinawatra camp. For now, though, it appears the aristocracy is not ready to give up its claim to a divine right to rule Thailand and accept the more modest role of loyal opposition.

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Banyan Asia The future of Thailand's elite

Helplessly'hoping May 6th 2014, 18:10 by The Economist | BANGKOK

A FEW months before Yingluck Shinawatra became prime minister, German spies in the state of Bavaria found themselves facing an exotic problem: her billionaire brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was to be granted a royal audience. The crown prince of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, was already a familiar visitor to southern Germany’s Alpine foothills. But in deigning to greet Mr Thaksin on foreign soil, the prince was meeting not only a former prime minister but also a fugitive from Thai justice.

Little is known about what the two men discussed. The old Thai establishment represented by the civil service, the army, the judiciary and the monarchy despises them both. For Mr Thaksin and the heir-apparent personify the end of the old tutelary democracy and the beginning of Thailand’s political future: a European-style constitutional monarchy with the king as titular head of state. With it will come an end to the kingdom’s Byzantine court culture, which reveres rank and rewards status, and devalues electoral democracy.

The elites’ fear is well-grounded: In the words of a cable sent by America’s ambassador to Thailand in 2005, Mr Thaksin “long ago invested in crown-prince futures”. A Singaporean diplomat judged that the telecoms-tycoon-turned-populist-politician had been “pursuing a relationship with the Crown Prince by paying off the Crown Prince's gambling debts”. And the Germans knew of a gift that Thaksin gave

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the crown prince in early 2001: a Maybach, a €500,000 luxury car, which was subsequently integrated into the royal fleet.

Their next meeting on Thai soil is probably still one royal succession, a few elections, court rulings and perhaps a new constitution away. On May 7th Ms Yingluck is poised to become the third prime minister to be removed from office by court order since Thailand’s revolution of 1932 (another unlucky nine, including her brother, were simply kicked out by coup d’état). On May 6th she appeared before the constitutional court to defend herself against allegations that she abused the powers of her office in 2011 by transferring a national-security adviser. The speculation has it that, if she were removed by a court order, it could trigger a civil war—which would be the first ever in a modern, upper-middle-income country. (For anyone planning to keep score: in 2011 Thailand’s upper-middle benchmark of $4,400 gross national income per capita put it in a higher bracket than Ukraine, with $3,100; the World Bankregards that as the difference between upper-middle and lower-middle income brackets.)

So on May 2nd, Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the establishment political party, the Democrats, made an offer. He wants for a general election that is scheduled for July 20th to be scrapped; for Ms Yingluck and her cabinet to step down; and for the senate to appoint an unelected prime minister and a “neutral” government who would oversee reforms to be drawn up by the foes of the Shinawatra clan. Some of those planners include people who have been trying to topple the government in six months of street protests. The whole affair could take two years. Economic advisers were not consulted, apparently—they would have pointed out that Thailand’s grinding war of ideologies has already tipped the economy into recession. Mr Abhisit said that if his plan were successful he would not run in the next poll (leaving it to his critics to point out that he is anyway already barred from standing in it).

The government rejected his proposal as unconstitutional. It must have been hard for them to see how Mr Abhisit’s bid to dictate democracy differed from the ideas of the coup-mongering Mr Suthep, an ex-Democrat MP who is leading the street protests. Mr Suthep’s movement has been boxed into a public park in Bangkok since March. On May 4th village headmen organised against Mr Suthep and descended on the capital, forcing him to call off his six-month long siege of the interior ministry. Nevertheless, he issued another call, his ninth, for a “final battle” to rid the kingdom of evils, i.e. to topple the Shinawatra-led government.

Meanwhile, the election commission looks ready to prepare a royal decree for elections on July 20th, to be presented to the king to for his endorsement. Ms

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Yingluck’s Pheu Thai party won a poll on February 2nd. But it wasn’t much of a fight; the opposition Democrats had boycotted it and the constitutional court subsequently annulled it. Under the constitution a party that boycotts two consecutive polls faces the prospect of being disbanded. Since the most recent poll was annulled however, the Democrats can have another go at boycotting. They may well wish to. Parties loyal to Mr Thaksin have won six consecutive elections (2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2013).

The Democrat party, what the reds call “the king’s party”, says that this is not a battle over royal succession nor is it a case of the army, courts and bureaucracy defending the old order. Instead, on their view, it is about the “abuse of parliamentary power, majoritarianism and corruption”, in the words of a former finance minister and Democrat politician, Korn Chatikavanij.

They have a point. The government must confront corruption, stop treating the state as its cash till—and instead use its electoral mandate for the good of the country.

But the idea that majoritarianism lies at the heart of the mess in Thailand is silly. Majoritarianism typically involvesan elected government that captures the courts, silences media critics and tinkers with the constitution to perpetuate its rule. In Thailand the opposite is true: the courts, the media, the bureaucracy, and the universities are extensions of the old Thai establishment, with the palace at its centre. The king’s advisers on the Privy Council are powerful. They oversee military appointments and then use their appointees to bless coups. After the coup in 2006 a military government abolished the constitution, which the advisers felt had made Mr Thaksin’s power unassailable. In its place they put a charter that gives the courts tremendous powers, making it possible for them to remove the head of an elected government on the slightest of technicalities.

Despite the expectation of Ms Yingluck’s imminent ousting, there is a whiff of futility about the larger effort to cement the old order in place. The Democrats, who were founded as a party on April 6th, 1946 (the coronation day of King Rama I, who established the Chakri dynasty in 1782) are looking oddly out of touch. Former military heavyweights have openly lobbied the Privy Council, the body Mr Thaksin refers to derisively as “the help”, to step in. Many of them were, like the men on the Privy Council, born in the days when Thailand’s army chose to support the losing side in the second world war. The consequence of that decision still looms large: unlike Japan or Germany, who were defeated by the Allies, for Thailand democracy is still a shaky concept.

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So why now? Some supporters of the Shinawatras say this represents the old order’s last chance to secure its privileges and prevent royal wealth falling into public coffers. Many would have preferred the crown princess to her brother. But the palace recently made a decision that matters a great deal—and counts as a snub to the Privy Council. It named the crown prince as the new commander of the Royal Guards’ 1st Army Division and their 2nd Cavalry. These units, both headquartered in Bangkok, have determined the success of past coups and continue to be seen as indispensable for the pulling off of any future coup d’état. To give them to the crown prince is to pre-empt any fiddling with the royal succession. An adviser in Ms Yingluck’s government reckons this has made a coup in Thailand “less likely than at any time in history”.

The crown prince’s strengthened position, in effect an insurance policy against coups and meddling, was only made official in April. It had been initiated much earlier, before Mr Suthep began his “shutdown” of the capital. For as long as Mr Suthep’s sputtering revolution filled the streets of Bangkok, the military establishment held out hope that the government might be made to fall—while the possibilities for succession were vague. Now it is hard to see any way in which the crown prince’s path to the throne might be subverted. Which should make Mr Suthep’s antics that much less appealing.

Mr Thaksin, holding court in Singapore last month, summarised the state of play: “the help is trying to egg on the king, to take down this government”. Whatever happens next to Mr Thaksin’s sister, the Germans’ early hunch looks spot on. Thailand’s future seems to have begun in Bavaria.

http://www.economist.com/node/21601755/print

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The Dark, Sordid History of the Court That Ousted Thailand’s Prime Minister

• BY JAKE SCOBEY-THAL

• MAY 7, 2014 - 06:59 PM

•

•

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Thailand's Constitutional Court may have finally done what months of anti-

government demonstrations failed to do -- unseat Prime Minister Yingluck

Shinawatra.

In a ruling Wednesday, the court ordered Yingluck to step down, finding her guilty of

abusing her power by transferring a senior civil servant to a new position in 2011 and

freeing up another job for a relative, an accusation she denies. The court also ordered

nine cabinet ministers to resign. The remaining members quickly appointed Deputy

Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan as interim leader.

The roots of Thailand's political crisis come down to simple math: Thailand's

opposition Democratic Party does not have the votes to compete against Yingluck's

Pheu Thai party, comprised primarily by rural and lower class voters from the north, at

the polls. The Democrats, who led the demonstrations against Yingluck, have not won

an election in almost 20 years.

In place of free and fair elections, opposition politicians have leaned on elite

bureaucratic institutions -- the courts, the army, the crown -- to maintain their power.

These institutions form the backbone of Thailand's traditional political establishment,

whose authority is threatened by Yingluck's electoral majority.

For Yingluck's supporters, the ruling represents the latest effort by the opposition to

oust the democratically-elected leader by underhanded means. Anti-government

demonstrators, comprised primarily of southerners and urban elites, took to the streets

in November 2013 in an attempt to unseat Yingluck and have battled the government

in the streets for the better part of the last six months. But until now, they have had

little success in achieving their goal of removing the Shinawatra family from the Thai

political scene.

Few among these institutions have played such an outsized role in the current political

crisis as the Constitutional Court. The court, as Dominic J. Nardi, an expert on

Southeast Asian politics and a Ph.D candidate at the University of Michigan, writes,

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"was not necessarily created with the altruistic goal of protecting fundamental rights.

Rather, constitutional court justices serve to enforce the policy preferences of the

political elites who appointed them -- a sort of ‘insurance policy' against populism or

electoral defeat."

Indeed, the ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck is only the latest example of the type of

politicized judicial activism that has come to define the bench. The Constitutional

Court, established in 1997 as an additional check on Thailand's various government

branches, had a mixed record in its early years. It initially took an aggressive tack in

combating official corruption, removing a number of politicians in graft probes during

the late 1990s. The court actually exonerated Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother,

in a corruption case after he came to power in 2001 behind the same coalition of rural,

lower-class voters who support his sister.

Yet in the mid-2000s the court became increasingly aligned with Thailand's traditional

political power brokers. In 2006, after opposition politicians boycotted the vote, the

court invalidated the electoral victory of then-Prime Minister Thaksin. Later that year,

the army seized control of the government in a bloodless coup. Facing corruption

charges, Thaksin left Thailand in self-imposed exile.

Thailand's military leaders established a new Constitutional Tribunal in the wake of

their ascension to power. In 2007, the tribunal dissolved Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai

party, alleging fraud in the 2006 election.

These decisions were only the beginning of a judicial effort to dismantle Thaksin's

political machine. In 2008, the court removed Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, a

Thaksin ally, because he allegedly accepted payments to be on a cooking show.

High-profile acquittals of leaders of the Democrat Party, the main opponents of the

Shinawatra political dynasty, have hardly helped the court's reputation for issuing one-

sided rulings. In 2010, the court dropped electoral fraud charges against then-Prime

Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his ruling Democrat Party.

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In November 2013, the court ruled against a proposed constitutional amendment that

would have changed the structure of the Senate. As currently structured, one half of

the legislators in the 150-member body are appointed by judges and civil servants. The

measure would have converted the chamber to a fully elected 200-member institution.

The opposition Democrat Party petitioned the court to review the bill on the grounds

that it gave too much power to Yingluck's Pheu Thai party, which maintains greater

popular support.

After the decision, Supot Kaimook, one of the nine judges of the Constitutional

Court, claimed the court was concerned about the rights of the minority. "Thailand's

democratic system allows the majority to set the standard," he wrote. "But once it uses

its power arbitrarily and suppresses the minority without listening to reason, this

makes the majority lose its legitimacy."

This system, he asserted, could no longer be called "democratic." "It results in the

tyranny of the majority," he said.

The court, it seems, can always be counted on to combat tyranny -- the kind of tyranny

that will strip the Bangkok elite of their power, anyway.

Borja Sanchez-Trillo/Getty Images

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/05/07/the_dark_sordid_history_of_the_court_th

at_ousted_thailand_s_prime_minister

5/10/2014 Thai Prime Minister Ordered Removed From Office - NYTimes.com

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http://nyti.ms/1kKJefC

ASIA PACIFIC | NYT NOW

Thai Prime Minister Ordered Removed From

Office

By THOMAS FULLER MAY 7, 2014

BANGKOK — A Thai court on Wednesday ordered Prime Minister

Yingluck Shinawatra removed from office, a highly divisive move and a

victory for a powerful opposition movement that for six months has

sought to overthrow the government.

The Constitutional Court ruled that Ms. Yingluck abused her power

when she transferred a civil servant to another post more than three

years ago. The court ordered her to step down immediately along with

all members of her cabinet who were in office at the time of the

transfer.

Ms. Yingluck’s party called the decision a “new form of coup

d’état.”

Leaders of Ms. Yingluck’s party quickly announced that a deputy

prime minister, Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, would become acting

prime minister.

It was the third time since 2006 that a prime minister representing

the political movement founded by Ms. Yingluck’s brother Thaksin

Shinawatra has been removed by court order. The movement, which

has its power base in the provinces, has won every election since 2001

but has antagonized the Bangkok establishment, a struggle that is at

the heart of Thailand’s eight years of political crisis.

Thailand for decades was considered an island of pluralism,

freedom and strong economic growth — especially in contrast with its

neighbors — but its economy has suffered during the recent turmoil,

and leaders have warned of civil war.



The court’s decision, which highlights its overtly political role,

throws into question elections announced for July 20, which the

governing party was expected to win because of its strong support in the

northern provinces.

Bhokin Bhalakula, a member of the governing party, Pheu Thai,

told reporters at the party’s headquarters that the court decision was

part of a “new form of coup d’état in order to establish a new regime

and destroy the hope of the people who want to see the country progress

democratically and with rule of law.”

Mr. Niwattumrong, the commerce minister who was named acting

prime minister, is a former executive in Mr. Thaksin’s corporate

empire. His appointment is likely to exacerbate tensions with the

antigovernment movement, which wants to eradicate Mr. Thaksin’s

influence from the country.

Verapat Pariyawong, a lawyer and prominent commentator, said

the court’s removal of Ms. Yingluck raised the prospect of more

violence. At least 20 people have been killed in political violence since

the governing party set off protests in November by trying to ram

through a bill giving political amnesty to Mr. Thaksin that would erase

corruption cases against him and allow him to return from self-imposed

exile.

The antigovernment movement, which is armed, continues to block

access to the prime minister’s office and a number of other government

facilities in Bangkok. Pro-government “red shirts,” who in the past have

also been allied with shadowy armed groups, are planning a show of

force on the outskirts of Bangkok on Saturday.

Highlighting concerns about violence, the Thai news media

reported Wednesday that for security reasons, the judges and staff

members of the Constitutional Court would not return to work until

Tuesday.

Ms. Yingluck, 46, was the country’s first female prime minister but

was loathed by the opposition and called a proxy for Mr. Thaksin, who

has lived abroad since a 2006 military coup and a subsequent

conviction for abuse of power in a highly politicized trial.



“I am so sorry that I no longer have the opportunity to serve the

people,” Ms. Yingluck said on national television after the court

decision, adding that she was proud that she became prime minister

“through democratic means.”

Ms. Yingluck could face further legal proceedings on charges that

she mismanaged the government’s costly subsidy program for rice

farmers, charges that could lead to a prison term and a ban from

politics. The country’s countercorruption commission is to decide

Thursday whether to press the case.

The court’s verdict was unanimous and was reached with unusual

speed. It was delivered just one day after Ms. Yingluck gave evidence at

the court.

The antigovernment movement, which is supported by some of

Thailand’s wealthiest families, has called for an appointed prime

minister and described Wednesday’s court verdict as a partial victory. It

turned to the courts after unsuccessfully trying to force Ms. Yingluck

out.

The Constitutional Court has backed the protest movement, saying

in previous rulings that protesters, who also led a campaign to block

elections, had the “right to exercise their rights and liberty.” A lower

court barred the government from dispersing protesters.

As the antigovernment movement cheered the decision to remove

Ms. Yingluck, independent legal experts despaired over what they

described as the crusading role of the courts and the damage to the

prestige of the judiciary.

The decision to remove Ms. Yingluck is “total nonsense in a

democratic society,” said Ekachai Chainuvati, the deputy dean of the

law faculty at Siam University in Bangkok.

“This is what I would call a juristocracy — a system of government

governed by judges,” Mr. Ekachai said.

In one of its most notable decisions, the Constitutional Court in

2008 removed another prime minister, also from Mr. Thaksin’s political

movement, because he had appeared on a televised cooking show. On

Wednesday the court cited the cooking show case as precedent in its



decision.The grounds for Ms. Yingluck’s ouster were that she did not give

sufficient justification when she transferred the secretary general of theNational Security Council, Thawil Pliensri, to another post in 2011. Thecourt said that Ms. Yingluck was within her rights to remove Mr.Thawil but that the move was rushed, intended to free up another jobfor a relative of Ms. Yingluck’s and not done according to “moralprinciples.”

In a stark symbol of the dysfunction of the Thai government, Mr.Thawil was reinstated, on court order, last week, and he told the newsmedia that even while in office, he would continue to support themovement to remove the government.

Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on May 8, 2014, on page A5 of the New York edition

with the headline: Thai Prime Minister Ordered Removed From Office.

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© 2014 The New York Times Company

5/10/2014

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PM's dismissal shakes Thaipolitical sceneConstitutional Court's ruling against Yingluck Shinawatra sets stagefor fresh round of political bickering and unrest.

Robert Kennedy Last updated: 08 May 2014 07:13

5/10/2014

2/4

Yingluck is the third elected leader with ties to Thaksin Shinawatra to be removed from office [Reuters]

Thailand's political scene looks set for a new round of unrest after the country's Constitutional Court ordered

caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra out of office on Wednesday, six months after a wave of violent

demonstrations demanding her resignation took place.

It was the third time that the court had removed an elected Thai leader with ties to former Prime Minister Thaksin

Shinawatra, Yingluck's billionaire brother, who was expelled from power in a bloodless 2006 coup.

Critics have accused Thaksin of using Yingluck and other former prime ministers as his proxy, while he pulls thepolitical strings from exile in Dubai.

The court's decision is the latest event in a long-running power struggle between the traditional political elite and their

middle- and upper-class base in the capital Bangkok and Thaksin's so-called Red Shirt supporters - mostly ruralvillagers living in impoverished areas in the country's north and northeast.

The Red Shirts and their political organisation - the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship - couldmobilise in large numbers to protest against the court's decision, as they did in 2010 when they took over Bangkok'scentral business district for months, before the military launched a bloody crackdown.

They announced on Thursday that they were preparing mass rallies to take place over the weekend.

For their part, Yingluck's opponents said they would stage a "final offensive" on Thursday to remove her allies still in

power.

The Constitutional Court ruling "prolongs the vicious political divisions that are tearing Thailand apart", Rajiv Biswas,

an economist and Asia-Pacific analyst for IHS Global, told Al Jazeera.

"The standoff looks set to continue, with extremely negative implications for the economy."

Election 'crucial'

The Shinawatra clan enjoys the support of the majority of Thais, who have overwhelmingly voted their political parties

into power in every election since 2001.

A new vote is expected in late July - one that would in all likelihood return a government made up of Thaksin allies.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Bangkok, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International

Studies at Chulalongkorn University, said it was crucial for an election to take place.

"The only way out and the ultimate way forward in this flawed electoral democracy is still to stick to the popular

5/10/2014

3/4

All eyes will be on the pro-government camp's ability to bring outits supporters to the streets in large numbers [Reuters]

"The only way out and the ultimate way forward in this flawed electoral democracy is still to stick to the popularmandate as the least problematic of all options," he said.

"An unelected outcome is likely to bring more tumult and turmoil."

Thursday's ruling was not the first time the Constitutional Court had waded into Thailand's murky political waters.Other prime ministers linked to Thaksin and removed by the court include Samak Sundaravej and Thaksin's brother-in-law Somchai Wongsawat.

Two political parties with Thaksin ties - Thai Rak Thai and People's Power Party - have also been banned by thecourt.

In a nationally televised address, Constitutional Court Judge Jaroon Intachan said Yingluck "committed what isprohibited in the constitution" by transferring a senior civil servant in the National Security Council three years ago toan inactive post.

Yingluck said she was not guilty of any wrongdoing. "I insist that we used honesty to administer the country, and wehave never done anything that conveyed any dishonest action as accused," she said.

Yingluck, 46, was Thailand's youngest prime minister and its first female leader. She served exactly 1,000 days inoffice. Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan, the commerce minister, takes over from Thaksin as the caretaker primeminister.

A member of Yingluck's Pheu Thai party challenged the court's decision to remove her.

"The party has been supporting democracy in the country, but there is a group of people and institutions that havebeen working systematically to destroy it," Bhokin Bhalukula, Pheu Thai's legal adviser, said.

"The court has disbanded two parties and removed three elected prime ministers, including Yingluck Shinawatra. Wecall for the caretaker government and the Election Commission to keep working to hold the election on July 20."

Opposite response

The reaction was very different from people on the other side of the political divide.

"She has never shown any responsibility as a prime minister," said Thanida Yuthanet, 45, who had participated inanti-government demonstrations. "She should have left a long time ago."

Violence over the past six months has killed at least 23 people and injured hundreds.

While there are fears the court ruling could intensify thepolitical crisis, some pundits say the time could also be ripefor political reconciliation.

Kriengsak Chareonwongsak is a senior fellow at HarvardUniversity and former adviser to Thai prime ministers fromboth sides of the political divide.

He says that while the court ruling leaves the country in a"political vacuum", it could nevertheless bring the rival sidestogether for the common good of the country.

"You can't eliminate a very powerful side without giving itsome standing room," Kriengsak told Al Jazeera.

"All of this is setting the scene for negotiation."

Supong Limtanakool, chairman of the Centre for Strategic Studies at Bangkok University, also expressed hope thatthe long-warring factions will finally find common ground.

"I think there will come a time when both sides will come together to find a way out and an amicable solution that isacceptable to both parties," Supong said.

"I'm quite optimistic. In the past both sides were overconfident. ... This time the rhetoric will be toned down, andthey're willing to speak right now."

Subsidy scheme ruling

Kriengsak noted that Thailand is awaiting another ruling by the National Anti-Corruption Commission over thegovernment's much-criticised rice subsidy programme, which benefited farmers but has been linked to corruption.

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Source: Al Jazeera

government's much-criticised rice subsidy programme, which benefited farmers but has been linked to corruption.

Once the world's largest rice exporter, the subsidy cost Thailand billions of dollars.

"It seems a verdict is coming against the government, and that will knock out the remaining cabinet members. It willbe a final blow to this government," Kriengsak said, referring to the impending ruling.

He says government supporters would probably protest, but it remains to be seen how significant their numbers willbe.

"The government's rallying power will be tested now," Kriengsak said.

"There will be some reaction, no doubt. Part of the Red Shirts will come forward, but some parts will not. Thegovernment has had a hard time rallying the Red Shirts in recent months. This is the most pivotal testing ground, andwe'll see over the next few days how it plays out."

Biswas of IHS says Thailand's economy is suffering heavily due to the political turbulence, and could be furtheraffected if demonstrations erupt and violence breaks out again.

He said GDP growth is expected to be just 1.9 percent in 2014, far below the nation's potential annual growth rate of4-5 percent.

Cost of turmoil

The political turmoil is estimated to have cost the Thai economy between $8bn and $10bn in lost GDP growth thisyear, Biswas said.

"The tourism sector, which plays a key role in the economy, was hit badly in early 2014 due to political protests andincidents of violence in Bangkok. Foreign investors are also increasingly concerned about the impact on the Thaieconomy," he said.

Concerns have also been voiced that the planned July 20 election may be shelved.

The anti-Thaksin People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), the spearhead of the protests against Yingluck'sgovernment, has demanded electoral reform before any new vote, and its ally, the main opposition Democrat Party,boycotted a parliamentary election won by Pheu Thai in February.

That election was later annulled by the same Constitutional Court which ruled against Yingluck on Wednesday.

Thitinan, the Bangkok-based political analyst, says what remains to be seen is whether the anti-Thaksin movement"packs up after Yingluck's political demise", and whether the Democrat Party agrees to participate in the July vote.

"If the PDRC maintains its line and logic of not allowing an election until its reforms are enacted, then we will havemore crises and confrontation," he told Al Jazeera.

"With the election at a dead end, the temptation for a non-elected outcome will grow. This option would raise politicalrisks immeasurably."

Al Jazeera correspondent Florence Looi in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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5/10/2014 Thai anti-corruption body votes to impeach Yingluck Shinawatra | World news | theguardian.com

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The rice-subsidy scheme was popular in Thailand's rural north and helped Yingluck Shinawatra win votes of millionsof farmers. Photograph: Borja Sanchez Trillo/Getty Images

Thailand's anti-corruption commission has voted to impeach the former primeminister Yingluck Shinawatra over a botched rice-pledging scheme, one day after shewas forced out of office on abuse-of-power charges.

The seven-member commission found that Yingluck had failed to suspend the flagshiprice-subsidy programme despite being aware that it was haemorrhaging money, withcosts estimated at about 800 billion baht (£14.5bn) over her tenure.

The anti-graft body's chief, Panthep Klanarongran, told reporters the commission hadvoted unanimously that there were enough grounds to indict her.

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Thai anti-corruption body votes toimpeach Yingluck ShinawatraEx-PM faces indictment over rice-subsidy programme a day afterbeing forced from office by court

Kate Hodal in Bangkoktheguardian.com, Thursday 8 May 2014 06.43 EDT

5/10/2014 Thai anti-corruption body votes to impeach Yingluck Shinawatra | World news | theguardian.com

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The national anti-corruption commission investigated Yingluck, who chaired thenational rice policy committee, as well as another 15 officials allegedly involved ingovernment-to-government rice contracts. The case will now go to the Thai Senate,where a three-fifths majority will be required to impeach the former premier. If foundguilty, the nation's first female leader could be banned from politics for five years.

The rice-subsidy scheme was a popular policy in Thailand's rural north and helpedYingluck win the votes of millions of farmers when she came to power in 2011. Butreports of corruption and mismanagement, along with thousands of tonnes of rice thatfailed to sell and sat rotting in silos, plunged the policy into problems, with reportscirculating of bankrupted farmers killing themselves.

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Thai court orders PM to step down, prolonging political crisis

Wed, May 7 2014 By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down on Wednesday after finding her guilty of abusing her power, prolonging a political crisis that has led to violent protests and brought the economy close to recession. The decision is bound to anger supporters of Yingluck, but the court did allow ministers not implicated in the case against her to stay in office, a decision that could take some of the sting out of any backlash on the streets. After the ruling, the cabinet said Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan, who is also a deputy prime minister, would replace Yingluck, and the caretaker government would press ahead with plans for a July 20 election. "The caretaker government's responsibility now is to organise an election as soon as possible," said Niwatthamrong, a former executive in a company owned by Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck's brother and himself a former prime minister who was ousted by the military in 2006. "I hope the political situation will not heat up after this," Niwatthamrong said of the court ruling. Thailand's protracted political crisis broadly pits Bangkok's middle class and royalist establishment against mainly poor, rural supporters of Yingluck and Thaksin, who lives in exile to avoid a 2008 jail sentence for abuse of power. Yingluck, who faced six months of sometimes deadly protests in the capital, Bangkok, aimed at toppling her government and ending the considerable political influence of her brother, thanked the Thai people in a televised news conference. "Throughout my time as prime minister I have given my all to my work for the benefit of my countrymen ... I have never committed any unlawful acts as I have been accused of doing," Yingluck said, smiling and outwardly upbeat. "From now on, no matter what situation I am in, I will walk on the path of democracy. I am sad that I will not be able to serve you after this." Despite her removal from power, there is no obvious end in sight to the turmoil in Thailand, with protesters opposed to Yingluck and her government still pushing for political reforms before new elections. The judge who delivered the verdict at the Constitutional Court said Yingluck had abused her position by transferring a security chief to another post in 2011 so that a relative could benefit from subsequent job moves. The court ruled that nine ministers linked to the case should step down but others could remain, leaving Yingluck's ruling party in charge of a caretaker government. Yingluck, a businesswoman until entering politics to lead her party to victory in a 2011 election, was not in court on Wednesday. Thaksin, based in Dubai, was unavailable for comment. Financial markets took the ruling in their stride. The stock market .SETI had fallen as much as 1.1 percent early on as investors worried about unrest if Yingluck's whole cabinet had been forced out, but the index ended down just 0.1 percent. The baht was barely changed at 32.37 per dollar THB=TH. PROTESTS WILL GO ON Yingluck's supporters accuse the Constitutional Court of bias in ruling against governments loyal to Thaksin. In 2008, the court forced two prime ministers linked to Thaksin from office.

"We were bracing ourselves for this verdict. Everything our enemies do is to cripple the democratic process," said Jatuporn Prompan, the leader of pro-Shinawatra "red shirt" activists. "The court chose a middle way today." Asked about a vow to resist Yingluck's removal that had raised fears of violence, Jatuporn replied: "There is no reason why we should take up arms. We will rally peacefully as planned on May 10." In Thailand, the prime minister is normally elected by the lower house of parliament, but that was dissolved in December when Yingluck called a snap election to try to defuse protests. From that point, she headed a caretaker administration with limited powers. The election in February was disrupted and later declared void by the Constitutional Court. Yingluck and the Election Commission agreed last week a new ballot should be held on July 20, but the date has not been formally approved and it is bound to be opposed by protesters. Thaksin or his loyalists have won every election since 2001 and would probably win again. The former telecoms tycoon won huge support in rural areas and among the urban poor with populist policies such as cheap healthcare and loans. But his enemies say he is a corrupt crony capitalist who buys elections and harbours republican sympathies, which he denies. The anti-government protesters say they want to end Thaksin's hold over politics and are demanding reform of the electoral system before new polls. A leader of the anti-government protesters, who are based in a Bangkok park, welcomed the court's decision to remove Yingluck but said their campaign would go on. "Of course, there is celebration here today but we still have not completed our goals, which are reforms and a delayed general election," said Samdin Lertbutr, adding that a big rally planned for May 14 would go ahead. Ongoing turmoil would make matters worse for Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, already suffering from weak exports, a year-long slump in industrial output, a drop in tourism and a caretaker government with curtailed powers. The army, which has staged numerous coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, has stayed out of the turmoil, as has King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king, who is 86, has intervened to defuse previous crises but has not commented since this one blew up late last year. The divide between the poor and what they see as the establishment elite represents a collapse of a traditional order in Thailand at a time when people have begun to broach the hitherto taboo topic of succession. Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn does not command the same devotion as his father, the world's longest-reigning monarch. (Writing by Alan Raybould and Martin Petty; Editing by Robert Birsel, Nick Macfie and Mike Collet-White) © Thomson Reuters 2014. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for their own personal and non-commercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters and its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.

Thailand court ousts PM, deepening political divisions

Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra gives a Thai traditional greeting gesture of 'wai' during a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 7, 2014. (AP / Sakchai Lalit)

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Thanyarat Doksone, The Associated Press Published Wednesday, May 7, 2014 4:16AM EDT Last Updated Wednesday, May 7, 2014 3:19PM EDT

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A court ousted Thailand's prime minister on Wednesday for abuse of power, accomplishing what anti-government demonstrators have sought to do for the past six months and further widening the country's sharp political divide.

Supporters of deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called for a huge rally Saturday to protest the ruling by the constitutional Court, which exercised powers laid out in a constitution written by a military government after a coup in 2006.

The leader of the anti-government protesters, Suthep Thaugsuban, meanwhile, told his followers that they would stage a "final offensive" on Friday and would achieve their goal of fully ousting the government. RELATED STORIES

• Thai PM sends representatives to hear charges of negligence

PHOTOS

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra shakes hands with her supporters in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 7, 2014. (AP / Sakchai Lalit)

Supporters cheer Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 7, 2014. (AP / Sakchai Lalit)

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, listens to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra at a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, May 7, 2014. (AP / Sakchai Lalit)

The court found Yingluck guilty of abusing her power by transferring the National Security Council chief in 2011 to another position. It ruled that the transfer was carried out to benefit her politically powerful family and, therefore, violated the constitution -- an accusation she has denied.

The ruling also forced out nine Cabinet members but left nearly two dozen others in their posts, including Deputy Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan, who was appointed the new acting leader.

Yingluck appeared on television two hours after the verdict to thank her supporters, emphasize that she was an elected leader and assert her innocence.

"We held true to the principles of honesty in running the country, and never acted corruptly, as we were accused," said Yingluck, 46, who swept to power nearly three years ago as the country's first female prime minister.

During the past six months, Yingluck's supporters, the Red Shirts, have generally steered clear of provoking her opponents, who have been blocking government ministries and conducting street protests in the capital. Still, more than 20 people have been killed and hundreds injured since November in sporadic gunbattles, drive-by shootings and grenade attacks.

Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan said Saturday's rally will be a show of strength, but that further attempts to dislodge the government will be met with force.

"Our stance has been clear," he said. "If an illegal prime minister steps in, we will fight. If there's a coup, we will fight."

Thailand's long-running political crisis began in 2006 when Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup after protests that accused him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

A military government after the coup rewrote the constitution, giving extensive powers to the courts and to agencies outside the Cabinet's authority in an attempt to reduce executive and legislative power.

Thailand's courts, like its military, are seen as bastions of anti-Thaksin conservatism, and have a record of hostile rulings toward Thaksin's political machine, which is fueled by billions of dollars that he made as a telecommunications tycoon.

Analysts said Wednesday's ruling further sullied the courts' reputation.

"The credibility of the justice system has vaporized," said Thongchai Winichakul, a professor of Southeast Asian history at the University of Wisconsin. "The royalist conservatives may celebrate this judicial coup. But the world will mourn over the death of another democracy."

The United States, a long-standing ally of Thailand, urged all sides to resolve the political tensions peacefully and democratically.

"In keeping with Thailand's democratic ideals, a resolution should include elections and an elected government. We urge all sides to exercise restraint and reaffirm that violence is not an acceptable means of resolving political differences," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.

Yingluck is despised by Bangkok's elite and middle class as a puppet of her brother. But she and her Pheu Thai party remain highly popular among the country's poor majority, particularly in the north and northeast.

Her opponents have been demanding that she step down to make way for an interim unelected government that would remove her family's influence from politics.

Thaksin's supporters say the Thai establishment opposes him because their position of privilege has been threatened by his electoral popularity, cemented by populist programs that benefited the less well-off in the countryside.

Wednesday's ruling casts doubts on whether new elections planned for July will be held, following polls in February that were disrupted by the protesters and then invalidated by the court.

In 2007, the constitutional Court made a landmark ruling dissolving Thaksin's original Thai Rak Thai party for fraud in a 2006 election, and banned its executives from politics for five years. Thaksin went into self-imposed exile in 2008 to escape a two-year jail sentence for conflict of interest while prime minister.

Thaksin's allies in late 2007 handily won the first post-coup election, but the constitutional Court in 2008 kicked out two successive pro-Thaksin prime ministers in rulings on controversial legal grounds.

A coalition government then cobbled together by the opposition Democrat Party had to use the army to put down pro-Thaksin demonstrations in 2010 that left more than 90 people dead in street battles, but Yingluck and her Pheu Thai party won a sweeping majority in a mid-2011 general election.

Opposition senators lodged Wednesday's case with the constitutional Court over the transfer of National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri. He was replaced by the national police chief, who in turn was replaced by a Thaksin relative.

"Transferring government officials must be done in accordance with moral principle," the court said in its ruling, read aloud on live television for almost 90 minutes. "Transferring with a hidden agenda is not acceptable."

Yingluck's fortunes plunged late last year when her party used shady legislative tactics to try to ram through a law that would have given an amnesty to political offenders of the previous eight years, including Thaksin. The move ignited mass anti-government demonstrations.

Seeking to ease the pressure, Yingluck in December dissolved the lower house and called elections for Feb. 2. But her opponents on the street disrupted the polls. Associated Press writers Grant Peck and Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report. Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/thailand-court-ousts-pm-deepening-political-divisions-1.1809796#ixzz31Kc8reoE

Thailand ex-PM Yingluck faces corruption charge

Ms Yingluck was ousted by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Thailand court ousts PM Yingluck

• Why Thailand is in political turmoil • Ousting of Thai PM: Your views

Thailand's anti-graft body has indicted ousted leader Yingluck Shinawatra over a controversial rice subsidy scheme.

The case will now be voted on at the Senate. If impeached, Ms Yingluck will be barred from politics for five years.

On Wednesday, a Thai court ordered Ms Yingluck and several cabinet ministers to step down over separate charges.

Thailand has been in political turmoil since anti-government protests erupted in November 2013. In February, snap elections were annulled.

'Enough evidence' Continue reading the main story

Thailand's troubles

• Sep 2006: Army ousts Thaksin Shinawatra

• Dec 2007: Pro-Thaksin party wins election • Aug 2008: Thaksin flees Thailand • Dec 2008: Huge anti-Thaksin protests; court bans ruling party; Abhisit Vejjajiva

comes to power • Mar-May 2010: Huge pro-Thaksin protests; more than 90 killed over 10-week period

• Jul 2011: Yingluck Shinawatra elected PM • Nov 2013: Anti-government protests • Feb 2014: Snap election held, but protesters disrupt polls; court rules polls invalid • May 2014: PM ordered to step down

• Why Thailand is in political turmoil The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) unanimously voted to indict Ms Yingluck, the commission's chief said on Thursday.

"The committee has investigated and there is enough evidence to make a case ... We will now forward it to the Senate," Panthep Klanarong said.

The NACC is also considering whether to file criminal charges against Ms Yingluck.

Ms Yingluck has previously said she was only in charge of formulating the policy, not the day-to-day running of the scheme, and has said that the commission treated her unfairly.

Under the rice subsidy scheme, the government bought rice from Thai farmers at a much higher price than on the global market.

However, it resulted in the accumulation of huge stockpiles of rice and hit Thailand's rice exports hard.

Critics said the scheme was too expensive and vulnerable to corruption.

Anti-government demonstrations have called for Ms Yingluck's removal since November

Thailand's rice exports suffered after the government stockpiled supplies as part of its subsidy scheme

Government supporters, known as "red shirts", have planned a mass rally on Saturday Separately, on Wednesday, Thailand's Constitutional Court ruled that Ms Yingluck acted illegally when she transferred her national security head to another position in 2011.

Ms Yingluck stepped down, and Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongphaisan replaced her as prime minister.

Ms Yingluck's supporters believe the courts are biased against her.

Clashes feared Ms Yingluck leads the ruling Pheu Thai Party, which won elections in 2011.

It commands strong support from rural voters, especially in Thailand's north and north-east.

However, anti-government protesters, who tend to be urban and middle-class voters, have protested against Ms Yingluck's administration for months, occupying official buildings and disrupting elections in February.

They say ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who is also Ms Yingluck's brother, is still controlling the government, and that the ruling party has been buying votes with irresponsible spending pledges aimed at its support base.

Both sides have planned rallies this week, and there are fears that clashes could occur.

The government has scheduled elections for 20 July after the February vote was declared unconstitutional.

However, the opposition says it will not contest the polls and that political reforms need to be introduced first.

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07 MAY 2014, ASIA

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