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| Yingluck Shinawatra (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Prashanth Parameswaran
Stakes are raised as Yingluck’s impeachment proceedings progress.
Last Friday morning, Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra appeared at the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) stacked by the country’s ruling junta to defend herself against possible impeachment.
In her hour-long statement broadcasted on national television, Yingluck directly attacked the charges against her. She said she no longer has a political office to be impeached from, a fact that may yet prove consequential as some in the NLA look to verify the legal basis of charges brought against her at a time when the country also lacks a working constitution. She also suggested the process was quite hastily drawn up, which may have compromised its fairness.
Yingluck also staunchly defended her administration’s controversial rice-subsidies scheme. The plan is at the center of the impeachment charges were brought by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which alleges she failed to prevent $16 billion in losses and corruption. But Yingluck insisted she ran her government honestly and the scheme helped nearly two million farmers. She also maintained that there was no evidence that she was directly involved in alleged corruption, something which even the NACC admitted previously. Arguing that the deeply divided country needed to move forward and reconcile, Yingluck pleaded with the body to be impartial.
Read the full story at The Diplomat