BANGKOK : The sister of fugitive ex-Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra urged the army Wednesday to refrain from staging another coup as she gains momentum in her bid to become the country's first female premier.
Yingluck Shinawatra, a photogenic businesswoman and newcomer to Thailand's fractured political scene, has breathed fresh life into the opposition's struggle to sweep Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrats from power.
Her appeal to respect the outcome of the July 3 election comes as surveys show her pulling ahead in the closely fought race for the first poll since Thailand's deadliest political unrest in decades last year.
In an interview with AFP, she called on the army chief to keep his promise not to repeat the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin and ushered in a period of political instability and bloody unrest.
"I don't think that (a coup) will happen again. I hope not but we have to make sure everybody respects the people's decision," said the 43-year-old mother of one, 18 years junior to her controversial brother.
"Thailand has been backward for four or five years and people have been suffering for a long time so they need the country to move forward."
Long-standing political tensions erupted in April and May last year when 90 people died and about 1,900 were wounded in a series of street clashes between opposition protesters and armed troops in the heart of Bangkok.
Army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha's pledge to abide by the results of the vote has done little to douse speculation about possible military intervention in a nation that has seen 18 actual or attempted coups since 1932.
Parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in the past four elections, but the courts reversed the results of the last two and observers say history could repeat itself if Yingluck's Puea Thai party triumphs.
"It's very unlikely that a Puea Thai government will be allowed to take office," said Thailand expert Michael Montesano at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"A proxy for Thaksin who has a family resemblance and shares his name only makes that less likely."
Yingluck is politically inexperienced and her brother is still widely considered the de facto leader of Puea Thai, the main opposition party, despite living abroad to escape a jail term imposed in absentia for corruption.
The former telecoms tycoon is hailed by many rural and working-class Thais for his populist policies but loathed by the Bangkok-based elite which sees him as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to the monarchy.
Puea Thai wants an amnesty for politicians who have been charged or convicted if it wins, potentially paving the way for Thaksin to return home, where he is also charged with terrorism in relation to last year's unrest.
The former policeman, who insists he has no ambition to lead Thailand again, describes his youngest sister as his "clone" -- a description she said underlined their similar political ideology.
"I'm working with him since I was young. So I learned how he handles business, how he's acting and the style and how he's thinking."
Yingluck, who heads a property firm, said her party was benefiting from her brother's political ideas, but insisted she had freedom to make her own decisions.
The arrival of Thaksin's sister on the Thai political scene has reinvigorated an opposition that just weeks ago appeared rudderless.
Her party scored 43 percent approval to the Democrats' 37 percent in a Suan Dusit Rajabhat University poll released Sunday, but surveys show many voters remain undecided and the election is still more than a month away.
"The biggest risk is that Yingluck fever won't last," said Montesano.
"That said, Thaksin has proved to be a political genius many times. It's clear that his appointment of Yingluck was more than just designating a proxy with the same last name."
- AFP/ir
Yingluck Shinawatra, a photogenic businesswoman and newcomer to Thailand's fractured political scene, has breathed fresh life into the opposition's struggle to sweep Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrats from power.
Her appeal to respect the outcome of the July 3 election comes as surveys show her pulling ahead in the closely fought race for the first poll since Thailand's deadliest political unrest in decades last year.
In an interview with AFP, she called on the army chief to keep his promise not to repeat the 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin and ushered in a period of political instability and bloody unrest.
"I don't think that (a coup) will happen again. I hope not but we have to make sure everybody respects the people's decision," said the 43-year-old mother of one, 18 years junior to her controversial brother.
"Thailand has been backward for four or five years and people have been suffering for a long time so they need the country to move forward."
Long-standing political tensions erupted in April and May last year when 90 people died and about 1,900 were wounded in a series of street clashes between opposition protesters and armed troops in the heart of Bangkok.
Army chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha's pledge to abide by the results of the vote has done little to douse speculation about possible military intervention in a nation that has seen 18 actual or attempted coups since 1932.
Parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in the past four elections, but the courts reversed the results of the last two and observers say history could repeat itself if Yingluck's Puea Thai party triumphs.
"It's very unlikely that a Puea Thai government will be allowed to take office," said Thailand expert Michael Montesano at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"A proxy for Thaksin who has a family resemblance and shares his name only makes that less likely."
Yingluck is politically inexperienced and her brother is still widely considered the de facto leader of Puea Thai, the main opposition party, despite living abroad to escape a jail term imposed in absentia for corruption.
The former telecoms tycoon is hailed by many rural and working-class Thais for his populist policies but loathed by the Bangkok-based elite which sees him as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to the monarchy.
Puea Thai wants an amnesty for politicians who have been charged or convicted if it wins, potentially paving the way for Thaksin to return home, where he is also charged with terrorism in relation to last year's unrest.
The former policeman, who insists he has no ambition to lead Thailand again, describes his youngest sister as his "clone" -- a description she said underlined their similar political ideology.
"I'm working with him since I was young. So I learned how he handles business, how he's acting and the style and how he's thinking."
Yingluck, who heads a property firm, said her party was benefiting from her brother's political ideas, but insisted she had freedom to make her own decisions.
The arrival of Thaksin's sister on the Thai political scene has reinvigorated an opposition that just weeks ago appeared rudderless.
Her party scored 43 percent approval to the Democrats' 37 percent in a Suan Dusit Rajabhat University poll released Sunday, but surveys show many voters remain undecided and the election is still more than a month away.
"The biggest risk is that Yingluck fever won't last," said Montesano.
"That said, Thaksin has proved to be a political genius many times. It's clear that his appointment of Yingluck was more than just designating a proxy with the same last name."
- AFP/ir
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น