Thailand’s establishment has clung to power
Thaksin Shinawatra, one of Thailand’s richest men, became prime minister in 2001 he has loomed over the country’s politics. Leaders of the army and royal establishment, Thailand’s dominant institutions, despise him and resent his popularity among the poor Thais he wooed with populist giveaways. Even after Mr Thaksin was ousted in an army coup in 2006 and later fled the country, parties connected to his family continued to command widespread support.
At the head of a sprawling coalition of 11 parties, he received a clinching majority in a combined vote of the House of Representatives and the military-appointed Senate. After weeks of uncertainty, the promise of a functioning government was needed; the Thai baht rose on the news. But the deal between Mr Thaksin and the military establishment, in effect to nobble Move Forward, looks bad for Thai democracy.
The price of Pheu Thai’s accommodation with the establishment was suggested earlier on August 22nd, when Mr Thaksin arrived in Bangkok by private jet. Thereby he ended 15 years in self-imposed exile. Upon disembarking, he bowed before a portrait of the king. He was then arrested on longstanding corruption charges, for which he has been sentenced to eight years in prison. But he is expected to receive a royal pardon before long. How active a role he will then play in politics is unclear.
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