BANGKOK: Thailand’s ousted premier Yingluck Shinawatra faces a possible five-year ban from politics after anti-graft officials ruled yesterday that she should face impeachment proceedings, a move sure to further enrage her supporters.
But the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said it would not extend its probe into a costly rice subsidy scheme to the rest of the caretaker cabinet as feared by officials of the battered ruling party.
That could have seen the cabinet ousted and sent the kingdom spinning into a deeper political crisis.
“The commission considers there is enough evidence to indict (Yingluck) and refers (the case) to the Senate,” Panthep Klanarongran, chief of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said.
If found guilty by the upper house Yingluck could face a five-year ban from politics.
The NACC said it is still considering whether Yingluck should face criminal charges, which could see her given a jail term.
Thailand remains stuck in a political quagmire with the ailing government staggering on despite a slew of legal challenges and protests on Bangkok’s streets.
Anti-government protesters, who accuse the Shinawatras of poisoning Thailand with corruption, said they would appoint a new government tomorrow. “Tomorrow we will take steps towards appointing a new government,” protest spokesman Akanat Promphan said earlier, saying the government had lost “all legitimacy”.
The protesters are known for their hyperbolic statements and it was not immediately clear what legal basis their vow was based on.
But Akanat said the Thai constitution has an article that may enable the appointment of a new executive body by the Senate.
The appointment of a new premier by the anti-government group “is the red line not to be crossed,” said Thailand-based author and academic David Streckfuss.
“The Red Shirts will rise en masse,” he said referring to Shinawatra supporters who are due to hold a mass rally on Saturday in a Bangkok suburb.
The NACC’s decision comes a day after the Constitutional Court removed Yingluck from office for abusing her power in the 2011 transfer of a security official.
AFP
