Thai king pardons Thaksin Shinawatra
BANGKOK—Thai billionaire former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra received a royal pardon shortening his parole by two weeks, his lawyer said on Saturday, a day after his daughter was elected premier by parliament.
Thaksin has been at the heart of a two-decade power struggle between the Shinawatra family and its allies on the one hand, and, on the other, a nexus of royalists, generals and old-money families that have long wielded influence over Thai governments and institutions.
After a dramatic return last August from self-exile to avoid jail time in the wake of his overthrow in a 2006 military coup, Thaksin served six months in hospital detention, due to health reasons, before being released on parole in February.
After his return, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for abuse of power and conflicts of interests during his time in office from 2001 to 2006. His sentence was commuted to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn last September.
“Thaksin is among the prisoners that received the royal pardon” for prisoners in honor of the king’s birthday last month, his lawyer, Winyat Chartmontri, told Reuters.
The pardon took effect on Sunday as the Thai king formally appointed Thaksin’s 37-year-old daughter Paetongtarn as Thailand’s new prime minister.
Third
Paetongtarn, the kingdom’s youngest ever PM, comes to office after a court sacked the previous premier and disbanded the main opposition party, throwing Thailand’s ever-febrile political scene into a new round of turmoil.
She is the third Shinawatra to be prime minister, but will hope to avoid the fate of her father and aunt Yingluck, both of whom were thrown out of power in military coups.
Paetongtarn received King Vajiralongkorn’s official written command to form a government in a ceremony at the headquarters of a former pro-Thaksin TV station soon after 9:30 a.m.
Thaksin, 75, was a prominent attendee at the ceremony, standing alongside Paetongtarn’s husband in the front row.
She heads a coalition government led by her Pheu Thai party—the latest incarnation of the political movement founded by her father in the early 2000s—but including some promilitary groups long opposed to Thaksin.
Her elevation to the top job came about after the kingdom’s Constitutional Court sacked previous Premier Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday for breaching ethics rules by appointing a Cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.
Thailand has been dominated for more than 20 years by a tussle for dominance between Thaksin and his allies and the kingdom’s conservative promilitary, proroyalist elite.
Parties linked to the former telecoms tycoon and one-time Manchester City owner have repeatedly won elections, only to find their governments upended by coups and court rulings.
Move Forward Party
Paetongtarn is a relative newcomer, running the hotel arm of the family business until late 2022 when she entered politics ahead of last year’s general election where Pheu Thai was unexpectedly beaten into second place by the upstart progressive Move Forward Party (MFP).
After being approved by lawmakers on Friday, Paetongtarn acknowledged her lack of experience but said she was ready to take on the challenge of “improving the quality of lives and empowering all Thais.”
Despite winning most seats in last year’s election, MFP was blocked from forming a government by conservative junta-appointed senators spooked by its promise to reform royal insult laws and break up powerful business monopolies.
That allowed Pheu Thai to strike an uneasy coalition deal with promilitary parties once staunchly opposed to Thaksin and his followers, leading to Srettha’s ascension.
Less than a year later, he became the third Pheu Thai prime minister to be kicked out by the Constitutional Court.
Paetongtarn will be watched closely for signs of influence exerted by her father, who is the most influential but controversial politician in modern Thai history.
