Thailand PM: ‘most popular’ Thaksin Shinawatra could play government role after jail release, ‘unwise’ not to tap him
- PM Srettha Thavisin says Thaksin can add value to the government, and that the ex-PM is the ‘most popular’ leader in Thai politics
- His comments come after Thaksin’s jail term was commuted to one year from eight years previously
“I believe he has value to add to the government and to the people of Thailand,” Srettha said during an interview in New York on Wednesday. The new premier is seeking to revive an economy whose growth has lagged neighbours during nearly a decade of military rule.
Forced to flee in 2008 to evade corruption charges, the 74-year-old Thaksin returned to Thailand last month after 15 years of self-imposed exile, arriving hours before Srettha was voted in parliament as prime minister. Srettha’s win came with the help of the Senate, in an arrangement widely seen as part of a deal between the royalist pro-military establishment and Thaksin.
Prime minister from 2001 until a coup in 2006, Thaksin still carries sway as the patriarch of a family that has dominated Thai politics for two decades despite having been found guilty, in absentia. Upon his return, he was sent to jail to serve eight years and moved soon thereafter to a police hospital after complaining of chest pain and high blood pressure.
“He was, and probably still is, the most popular prime minister in the history of Thai politics,” the Thai leader said of Thaksin who is considered an influential figure in Srettha’s Pheu Thai party. “Obviously, that comes with good reasons and if he becomes free it would be unwise of me not to seek his opinion and other prime ministers as well,” he said.
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