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Thais braced for storm over impeachment of fallen PM Yingluck
Sydney Morning Herald - January 22, 2015
A vote against Thailand's first woman prime minister would ban her from politics for five years, preventing her from contesting elections which ruling junta leaders say may be held in early 2016.
Ms Yingluck's supporters would see her removal from a position she no longer holds as a politically motivated attack to limit the influence of her powerful family. The impeachment is based on a constitution that has been suspended, raising questions about the legality of the move.
Ms Yingluck has been accused of dereliction of duty over a loss-making rice subsidy scheme that cost Thailand billions of dollars while she was prime minister. Her government pledged to pay farmers twice the market rate for their crops, hoping to recoup the costs by hoarding stockpiles in an effort to push up prices internationally. But exports collapsed as international buyers found cheaper supplies in India and Vietnam.
No evidence of corruption by Ms Yingluck has so far been presented in the case and she denies any wrongdoing.
The rice scheme was a major promise that Ms Yingluck made before winning a landslide 2011 election. But Thailand's Anti-Corruption Commission has said it is moving to file a criminal case against Ms Yingluck, who chaired a committee that oversaw the scheme.
The commission said on Tuesday it will also charge a former commerce minister in Ms Yingluck's government and 20 state officials and employees of private firms with alleged corruption related to rice export deals with two Chinese companies.
Thailand's generals, who seized power in a May 2014 coup, have warned they are ready to use martial law to prevent any protests over the vote in the 220-member military-stacked parliament. The law bans gatherings of more than five people across the country.
The military has in the past taken violators of the law to military bases for "re-education".
Federation of Thai Industries chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree said the business sector was worried about the impeachment vote, fearing that resistance from Ms Yingluck's supporters might deepen political conflict or even trigger violence. "There would be repercussions for the sluggish economy," he said.
Support for Ms Yingluck and her exiled brother Thaksin Shinawatra remains strong in north and north-east Thailand. Mr Thaksin was overthrown in a 2006 coup.
As well as Ms Yingluck, two prominent politicians – former House speaker Somsak Kiatsuranon and former Senate president Nikhom Wairatpanich – are also facing impeachment proceedings for supporting moves to amend Thailand's constitution to allow for a fully-elected senate.
The move was opposed by the Thai royalist establishment and Bangkok middle class, who support the Democrat Party, which has been unable to win the past five general elections.
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