Parliament elects Thaksin's daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra as Thailand's prime minister
Bangkok (AP): Thailand's Parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of the divisive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, as the country's new prime minister Friday.
Paetongtarn becomes Thailand's third leader from the Shinawatra family, after her father, who was ousted by coup before returning from exile last year, and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra, who lives in exile. Paetongtarn also became Thailand's second female prime minister after her aunt and the country's youngest leader at 37.
She is the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai party but was not an elected lawmaker, which was not required for her to be a candidate for prime minister. Paetongtarn was the sole nominee and got a majority of the votes in Parliament with the voting ongoing.
The last prime minister had been removed by the Constitutional Court two days ago over an ethics violation.
Thaksin is one of Thailand's most popular but divisive political figures and was ousted by a military coup in 2006. He is widely seen as a de facto leader of Pheu Thai, the latest in a string of parties linked to him. His residual popularity and influence is a factor behind the political support for Paetongtarn.
Her public entry into politics came in 2021 when the Pheu Thai party announced she would lead an inclusion advisory committee. She was appointed as leader of Pheu Thai last year, after she was named one of its three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the polls.
When Paetongtarn was on the campaign trail for Pheu Thai, she acknowledged her family ties but insisted she was not just her father's proxy.
“It's not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad's daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she told a reporter.
However, her father's shadow is too big to be dismissed and her work will not be easy with him continuing to call political shots for Pheu Thai, said Petra Alderman, a political research fellow at England's University of Birmingham.
"Thaksin was a political force to reckon with, but he was also a liability," she said, “He has a tendency to overplay his political hand, so serving in his shadow has never been easy.”
Paetongtarn's nomination followed the removal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday after less than a year in office. The Constitutional Court found him guilty of a serious ethical breach regarding his appointment of a Cabinet member who was jailed in connection with an alleged bribery attempt.
It was the second major ruling in a week to shake Thai politics. The same court last week dissolved the progressive Move Forward party, which won last year's general election but was blocked from taking power. The party has already regrouped as the People's Party.
Pheu Thai and its predecessors had won all national elections since 2001, with core populist policies pledging to solve economic problems and bridge income equality, until it lost to the reformist Move Forward in 2023. It, however, was given a chance to form a government after Move Forward was blocked from taking power by the previous Senate, a military-appointed body.
Move Forward was excluded from the coalition by Pheu Thai, which went on to join hands with parties affiliated with the military government that ousted it in a coup. The move drew criticism from some of its supporters but party officials say it was necessary to break the deadlock and start reconciliation after decades of deep political divisions.
Thaksin returned to Thailand last year after years in exile in what was interpreted as part of a political bargain between Pheu Thai and their longstanding rivals in the conservative establishment to stop Move Forward Party from forming a government.
The former senators were given special power to veto a prime ministerial candidate by the constitution adopted in 2017 under a military government. However, that power expired when their term ended in May. New members of the Senate, selected in a convoluted process last month, do not retain the veto.
A candidate now needs just a majority from the lower house, or at least 247 votes. The current 11 party-coalition led by Pheu Thai now has 314 lawmakers in the lower house, and they have declared their unanimous support for Paetongtarn.
The coalition under the leadership of Paetongtarn could strengthen their unity because Paetongtarn possesses something that Srettha does not — a direct line to her powerful father who has the final say — said Napon Jatusripitak, a political science researcher at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“In a strange way, it creates a clear chain of command and curbs factionalism,” he said. “Paetongtarn will be given clear jurisdictions on where she can exercise her own agency and where it is a matter between her father and the coalition members.”
With Move Forward dissolved and the party's only prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat banned from political activities, Napon believes it's the time that the rest of major political parties resume a “game of musical chairs” of the premiership race that has been put on hold “with an agreement to share power, regardless of who becomes the prime minister.”
“Most importantly, the overarching goal remains the same: to keep the music playing and exclude the reformists from power,” he said.
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CM denies charge of "vendetta politics" behind panel to speed up probe into scams during BJP rule
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday rejected allegations of "vendetta politics" behind the constitution of a committee of Ministers formed to review and coordinate regarding the action to be taken in connection with probe by government and investigating agencies into various scams that have taken place during the previous BJP government.
He said the panel has been formed to accelerate the probe into such cases, and the government will take action against those who have committed wrong.
"While replying to debate (in the Assembly) I had referred to more than 21 scams during the previous government (of BJP); to speed up the probe into all of them, and to advise to the government and the Cabinet on what is to be done in this regard, the Cabinet sub committee has been formed," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
On inquiry commissions already being formed to probe some cases, he said: "It has not been formed for all cases. Inquiry commissions have been formed for scams or cases such as Sub Inspector recruitment, 40 per cent commission, COVID-19, Bitcoin."
He noted that in some cases such as (irregularities in) COVID-19 (management), a preliminary report has been given, and a committee of officials has been formed to review and submit recommendations on what action to be taken.
Siddaramaiah said the Cabinet sub committee will review the progress of investigations and to recommend to the government on necessary action to be taken.
"I have asked the committee to submit the report within two months," he added.
On the BJP dubbing the move as "vendetta politics," Siddaramaiah said, "what politics have they done with me? (in connection with Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment scam)."
"We don't indulge in vendetta politics, did we do it when I was Chief Minister earlier? Even now we have not done, but we will take action against those who have committed wrong...the committee has been formed to accelerate the probe into (such) cases," he said,
Meanwhile, Home Minister G Parameshwara said the committee is likely to meet this week.
"Every case that is pending at various stages... some of them that have been decided and some yet to be decided...to review all of them and to submit a report a Cabinet subcommittee has been formed. Probably this week itself I will call a meeting of the committee," Parameshwara who heads the committee told reporters.
He said such cases have been identified and their status report will be submitted to the Cabinet.
"We will not go on an individual basis, the number of cases that are pending, we will review. Cases should not catch the dust without action, so we will review them. We were doing it departmentally earlier, now it has been decided at the Cabinet level, so the committee has been formed, it is also to speed up the process," he added.
Parameshwara on Tuesday said during the BJP rule 20-25 scams have taken place, and all of them will be reviewed.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, Rural Development Minister Priyank Kharge and Labour Minister Santosh Lad are the members of the committee.
On the BJP's charge of "vendetta politics," the Home Minister said: "Let them say whatever they want, we will have to do our duty."
"As the ruling party we will have more responsibility. They (opposition) have the responsibility to criticise, advise and correct the government if it is going in the wrong direction. As the party in government we have our own responsibility and we are answerable to the people," he added.
