TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thailand’s military government has banned former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra from politics and proceeded with criminal charges that could lead to her serving 10 years in jail – a major double blow to the powerful Shinawatra clan that experts have warned may plunge the nation into violent upheaval.
The decision – made on Friday by a handpicked legislature – makes Yingluck the first premier in Thailand’s history to be impeached and relates to a hugely popular but deeply troubled government scheme to pay rice farmers double the market price for their crop, a policy believed to have incurred losses of around £10bn.
The ban prevents Yingluck from participating in politics for five years, a move analysts say is nothing more than an attempt to keep her – and her brother Thaksin, the former prime minister who was himself ousted in a military coup in 2006 – away from polls that have won them, or their affiliates, every election in the past decade.
Yingluck also potentially faces 10 years’ imprisonment if found guilty of negligence by the supreme court over the botched rice subsidy scheme, the attorney general’s Office said on Friday.
Bangkok’s streets were quiet after the decision and security was tight around parliament, where the assembly ruled 190-18 in favour of impeachment. The nation is still under martial law after a putsch on 22 May ended six months of violent political protests.
The prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, who came to power in the May coup, had warned the public not to get involved in street protests against the legislature’s decision and insinuated Yingluck did not merit the public attention.
THE GUARDIAN | MARIA RITA
