Bloomberg reports today:
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s party will propose overhauling a constitution written after a 2006 coup that ousted her brother, a move that threatens to reignite political discord.
The Pheu Thai party will present a plan to parliament tomorrow to create a Constitution Drafting Assembly comprising 99 people that has 180 days to draw up a new constitution, spokesman Prompong Nopparit said by phone today. A nationwide referendum will be held after it’s completed, he said by phone.
“The Pheu Thai party sees that the 2007 constitution is not democratic,” Prompong said. “It weakens political parties, weakens politicians and limits the freedom of people. The constitution should be drafted by people for people.”
Moving to rewrite the constitution is Yingluck’s biggest challenge to a military establishment that six years ago overthrew former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra since she took power in August. Moves by Thaksin’s allies in 2008 to change the constitution sparked violent street protests by his yellow-shirted opponents that shut down parts of Bangkok and culminated in the seizure of the city’s airports.
“The government thinks it is confident enough to make a move that will certainly upset the military and anti-Thaksin forces,” said Michael Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. “I’d be very surprised if the Yellow Shirts can bring out the numbers they were able to bring out several years ago.”
Worth a read.
(All emphasis mine.)
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yingluck_shinawatra
And now for something completely different…
Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, as you may know, is visiting India.
While the trip has geopolitical implications — especially for India — a couple of stories in the Indian media on an altogether different topic have caught my eye.
India’s Mail Online has run two dispatches — so far — on Yingluck’s sartorial choices. They’re here and here.
The most recent story, from today, is headlined “Thailand’s Prime Minister scales down glam quotient.” It begins:
Thailand Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra continued with her demure dressing style on Wednesday, the second day of her visit to India.
Already having received a lot of attention for her fashion choices and immaculate hair and make-up abroad, especially on diplomatic tours like this one – her dressing style was recently discussed in the Indonesian Parliament, making her blush profusely – Shinawatra has decidedly been low-key on her fashion quotient on this visit.
We saw a dash of glamour during her meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early in the day – Shinawatra was dressed in a knee-length black skirt teamed with a dull ivory gold doublebreasted jacket. But she was quick to get into a boring pantsuit for her trip to Agra later in the day.
(All emphasis mine.)
(Image: Reuters/Mail Online.)
Tagged as:
yingluck_shinawatra
The AP reports:
A firebrand ‘Red Shirt’ leader charged with terrorism over the movement’s 2010 protests was appointed Wednesday to Thailand’s Cabinet, and a second appointee is a businesswoman blacklisted from certain U.S. financial transactions.
Worth a read.
Tagged as:
yingluck_shinawatra
File under: Yet another post about interesting Bangkok English language newspaper occurrences:
The front page of today’s Nation newspaper features this strange image of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
It’s unclear to me if it’s a photoshopped image or an illustration.
The image accompanies what seems to be this story, which begins:
The Cabinet yesterday approved increased monthly cost-of-living allowances for civil servants and state employees – a time-buying tactic designed to cushion pressure mounting over an election pledge to raise the starting salary of civil servants holding bachelor’s degrees to Bt15,000.
(Via @Saksith.)
(Image: @isAMare on Twitpic.)
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yingluck_shinawatra
TIME has a story on Yingluck, women in politics, Thaksin, and more:
She delivers the line with a breathy purr: “The microwave is my lover.” Thailand may be famous for its incendiary curries and the tireless women who prepare them, but Yingluck Shinawatra is used to quick results — and not just in the kitchen. Last month the 44-year-old business executive was sworn in as the politically fractious country’s first female Prime Minister. It was her first-ever political race.
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TIME reports on Thaksin’s visit to Japan and Yingluck’s new government:
Is Thaksin Shinawatra a criminal or a VIP? The question must have vexed the Japanese officials who considered a request by the former Thai Prime Minister to start a six-day tour of their country this week. Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup, then sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for corruption. Previous attempts by the Dubai-based billionaire to visit Japan and other major nations have been stymied by a hostile Thai government. Stripped of his Thai passport, he travels the world as a citizen of Montenegro.
But Thailand’s government has changed — Thaksin’s younger sister Yingluck, 44, recently became the nation’s first female Prime Minister — and so has the status of its best-known fugitive. He arrived in Tokyo on Aug. 22 to be greeted by Japan’s Financial Services Minister Shozaburo Jimi. “Coming to Japan is my own right,” he told reporters. “My sister has nothing to do with it.”
There’s also this, on anti-Thaksin forces and the military:
Any attempt to pardon or repatriate Thaksin could regalvanize anti-Thaksin street protesters, who in 2008 occupied the Prime Minister’s office and shut down Bangkok’s airports.
It would also antagonize Thailand’s powerful military. Its generals have remained silent of late — conspicuously so in the case of Prayuth Chan-ocha, the gaffe-prone army chief. General Prayuth helped topple Thaksin in 2006 and his loathing for Pheu Thai is one of the country’s worst-kept secrets. But with October’s annual military reshuffle approaching, Prayuth is currently preoccupied with resisting attempts by Yingluck’s government to promote pro-Thaksin officers. “Prayuth and others are waiting until the reshuffle is complete,” says Chambers. “Then I think they’ll become much more vocal in their opposition to this government.”
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Bloomberg reports:
Japan said today it had granted an entry visa to exiled former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, 10 days after parliament selected his sister as the country’s first female prime minister.
Thaksin was granted a visa by Japan at the request of the Thai government, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters today. Edano didn’t say when Thaksin would enter the country.
Thaksin is interested “in visiting and meeting with victims of the disaster in northern Japan and promoting goodwill between our two countries,” Edano said.
During the election campaign, Yingluck Shinawatra deflected questions on whether her Pheu Thai party, which won a majority in the July 3 vote, would promote amnesty for Thaksin who has been living in Dubai since fleeing a 2008 jail term for abuse of power. To engineer the return of her brother, she will have to overcome opposition from Thailand’s military, courts and bureaucracy.
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Today’s Nation has a graphic of Prime Minister Yingluck’s Cabinet.
Here’s the original (larger) image and the accompanying story, which notes:
Prime Minister Yingluck Shina-watra’s Cabinet line-up, which got royal endorsement last night, has been described by political observers as acceptable.
It appears that the ruling Pheu Thai Party has tried to please critics while also avoiding political confrontation. No red-shirt leader figures in the Cabinet.
(Emphasis mine.)
(Via @Saksith.)
(Image: The Nation.)
Tagged as:
yingluck_shinawatra
Just noting briefly, for the record, that it’s now official.
As the AP reports:
Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of an ousted Thai leader, vowed Monday to work for national reconciliation as she formally became the country’s first female prime minister.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej certified her appointment as the country’s 28th prime minister with a royal command presented at a ceremony at her Pheu Thai party headquarters.
Read the whole thing.
There’s also a piece from the BBC, and a story in today’s Bangkok Post.
Up next: We’ll learn about her Cabinet.
As ever, stay tuned, Thailand-watchers.
(Image: Bangkok Post.)
Tagged as:
thailand_elections,
yingluck_shinawatra
Pavin Chachavalpongpun assesses, in today’s WSJ, some of the challenges facing Thai Prime Minister Elect Yingluck Shinawatra:
Public attention is now on Ms. Yingluck’s vision for the country: Whom will she appoint to the cabinet and what policies will she implement? She is expected to reveal her ministers shortly. She has remained tight-lipped over her choices and has fended off criticism that her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, is the real hand behind cabinet posts and policies.
Ms. Yingluck’s primary task is bringing back stability. So she has to appoint a cabinet and implement such policies that both reward key patrons in the winning coalition and build a credible profile for the new government–one that doesn’t lead the opposition to quickly cry foul.
Mr. Abhisit’s Democrats are wary of the possible return of Mr. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup. Hence the cabinet will probably consist of a mix of influential politicians with ties to Mr. Thaksin, as well as eminent technocrats and those successful in the private sector who aren’t seen as close to him.
And the concluding graphs:
Many Thais expect Ms. Yingluck to display her leadership and courage in addressing the difficult issue of social injustice and double standards, to heal the rift in their society. But there’s a giant question mark about how she will shape her relationship with the military and the palace. The military earlier accused Mr. Thaksin of disrespecting the much-revered monarchy. Consequently, he was toppled.
If Ms. Yingluck comes across as a weak leader, she will be manipulated. If she becomes too popular, she could be eliminated like her brother. The trick will be to promote those persons, ideas and policies that attain maximum consensus and ensure all-round political and economic development in Thailand.
(All emphasis mine.)
(Via @HarveyBKK.)
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