2023-08-19 06:30:05
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (2001-2006) is expected to return to the kingdom on Tuesday, the day of a key parliamentary vote that could end a political deadlock, his daughter said.
The energetic 74-year-old billionaire was overthrown in a military coup in 2006 and has lived in exile for 15 years to escape a corruption conviction he is contesting.
“On Tuesday August 22 at 9 a.m., I will pick up my father Thaksin at Don Muang airport” in Bangkok, his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was one of the candidates for the post of Prime Minister, declared on Instagram. Pheu Thai party banner.
His return will coincide with a vote to appoint a head of government who could end the political stalemate in which the kingdom has found itself since the legislative elections in May.
In May, the reformist party Move Forward (MFP) came out on top, thanks in particular to the votes of young people and city dwellers eager for profound change. But the MFP leader was unable to be elected prime minister due to opposition from conservative senators to his program to reform lese majesty crime laws and big business monopolies.
The Pheu Thai party, supported by Thaksin, came in second and is trying to form a coalition government around its leader Srettha Thavisin, 60.
Popular with the underprivileged classes, but hated by the traditional elites of Bangkok, the divisive Thaksin has animated Thai political life for more than twenty years, wherever he is.
He lives in exile, mostly in Dubai, but regularly speaks to his followers on social media.
Upon arrival, he will likely be taken to the Supreme Court and then to a special detention center before being sent to jail.
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