By Thai Newsroom Reporters
GIVEN A LAST-DITCH lobbyism and abundant resources at his disposal, de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra is certainly anticipating his daughter/court-suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to barely survive an impeachment lawsuit which could otherwise result in an ouster of the elected head of government by court later this month, partisan sources said today (Aug.14).
The mega-billionaire power player has quietly preoccupied himself finding ways and means albeit in hush-hush, behind-the-scenes fashion with his untapped, colossal resources readily available to save his daughter from losing in the historic legal battle at the cost of her premiership.
Paetongtarn who has been ordered by court to stop performing as head of government pending the court verdict has been accused by a group of senators of perpetrating an act of treason whilst breaching the ethical code and compromising the evident honesty during last June’s telephone conversation between Cambodian leader Hun Sen and herself pertaining to Thai-Cambodian border conflict, thus supposedly warranting the legal impeachment to the extent of her dismissal as head of government at an order of the Constitutional Court.
Due to Thaksin’s last-ditch lobbyism via unnamed elements of the superelite powers-that-be, the Constitutional Court was pressed to delay the procedures to some extent until delivery of a final verdict on Paetongtarn’s historic case was scheduled for Aug.29 despite having been largely anticipated to do so a few weeks earlier.
The court ruling is more or less expected by the Pheu Thai rank and file to be a close call with a 5:4 or 6:3 decision in favour of the embattled woman prime minister who could probably be given a formal excuse of having made an “inadvertent mistake” for her overly submissive, naive attitudes during her leaked telephone chitchat with Hun Sen, thus exonerating her from being held guilty of all relevant charges and sparing her the ouster as head of government, according to the partisan sources.
That the prime minister called an army general in charge of national security in northeastern Thailand “one of those on the opposite side” and verbally pledged to do anything to satisfy the Cambodian leader in regard to the unresolved border conflict would be completely considered by court as an “inadvertent slip of the tongue.”
Paetongtarn has earlier commented her disreputable speech served no interest to herself and rendered no damage to the country and visited Thailand’s Second Army Area Commander Lt.Gen. Boonsin Padklang to pay him a personal apology for her offensive words expressed about him.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether or not the judges of the Constitutional Court may consider the fatalities, injuries and damage done to Thai army troops and Thai civilians in disputed border areas during five-day border clashes somewhat as an aftermath of Thaksin’s daughter’s loose lips.
Thaksin had told his embattled daughter to never step down in the face of her decisive legal battle partly because he believed in a looming victory for her and partly due to his discontent to having anyone else take her place as head of government, the partisan sources said.
Both Thaksin and Paetongtarn have been viewed by critics as dishonest, unreliable politicians who could possibly render threats to national security and interests which could possibly be taken away by Cambodia.
Thaksin had allegedly struck a secret deal with certain figures among the powers-that-be for himself to return home after 17 years in self-exile without being literally put behind bars for a single day to otherwise serve a curtailed, one-year jail sentence due to a few counts of misconduct perpetrated during his previous premiership over the last couple of decades.
Only until recently had the de facto Pheu Thai boss fostered close, personal relationships with Hun Sen, reportedly had his personal wealth deposited in Cambodia and pushed for an undersea natural resources development scheme in the Gulf of Thailand where the Cambodian government had made unilateral claims of territorial integrity on part of Koh Kud island and surrounding maritime areas off the eastern Thai coastal province of Trat.
Meanwhile, Thaksin would likely be held not guilty of a lese majeste lawsuit in a court ruling scheduled for Aug.22 due to lack of adequate evidence, the partisan sources said.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss had reportedly mentioned the monarchy for alleged involvement in the 2006 coup which deposed him as elected prime minister during an interview with a news agency in Seoul, South Korea in 2015, one year after his sister/former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra had been ousted in Thailand’s latest coup, prompting her to flee and live in exile since.
In another development, Supreme Court judges in charge of criminal lawsuits against persons in political positions are scheduled for Sep.9 to hand out a verdict on a separate lawsuit filed against Thaksin on charges of intentionally taking legal loopholes and staging a six-month-long fakeout to illicitly avoid the jail term at Bangkok Remand prison and enjoy undue privileges of staying in a premium ward at Police Hospital under excuse of having “critical illnesses” whilst the Medical Council of Thailand has ruled otherwise.
If found guilty as charged in court, the de facto Pheu Thai boss might probably be detained for a year in the style of a “house arrest” in lieu of a real prison anywhere, they said.
But several senior government officials of the Corrections Department, Bangkok Remand prison and Police Hospital might probably be held guilty and subject to legal penalties for evidently providing illicit assistance to the mega-billionaire, power player who had allegedly, clandestinely manipulated the naming of Srettha Thavisin for prime minister following the 2023 election, the double-crossing setup of the Pheu Thai-led government and the allocation of cabinet portfolios among coalition partners as well as the naming of Pheu Thai-attached figures for ministers and deputy ministers.
CAPTIONS:
Suspended prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the Constitutional Court logo. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Amarin TV
Insert: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra. Photo:
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