Fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters vowed yesterday to fight a court order seizing more than half of his US$2.3 billion fortune.
Thaksin, who was toppled in a coup in 2006, rejected calls from the ruling party to leave the political stage and dismissed their arguments that a compromise had been struck by returning a portion of his frozen funds.
His supporters, dubbed the “Red Shirts” for their colorful garb, said they would press on with their plans for mass rallies in Bangkok in the middle of next month, dimming hopes that the verdict could ease Thailand’s political turmoil.
“I’m not going to let anyone keep me down. I will fight in every way that I can. I will not chicken out,” Thaksin wrote on his Twitter page yesterday.
In a separate statement issued from Dubai, where he is living to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption at home, the tycoon urged the Red Shirts to fight on and said he would “keep fighting for democracy and justice.”
The ruling Democrat party said Thaksin should accept the verdict and stop egging on his supporters, who have called for fresh elections and the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
“Every side should accept the verdict. We want to ask Thaksin to quit the political movement, because if he quits, the Red Shirts will quit too,” Theptai Seanapong, a party spokesman, told reporters.
Abhisit, the Oxford-educated prime minister accused by the Red Shirts of leading an elitist, military-backed government since he took power in December 2008, rejected Thaksin’s accusation that his family’s money had been “stolen.”
“I don’t think we’re stealing anyone’s money. The money now belongs to the country ... I would like everybody to respect the verdict,” Abhisit told reporters.
The Supreme Court found on Friday that Thaksin had abused his power as prime minister to boost his business interests and ruled to seize 46 billion baht (US$1.4 billion) from the 2006 sale of shares in his telecoms firm.
In a seven-hour verdict broadcast on national television and radio, judges said the twice-elected former leader could hold on to the money he had accumulated before taking office in 2001.
Thaksin denies using his position as head of government to benefit Shin Corp and that he illegally hid his ownership of the shares, among other graft charges.
His lawyers yesterday said they would consider submitting fresh evidence to the Supreme Court within 30 days and would mull an appeal to the World Court.
The Red Shirts have said they will gather from March 12 in Bangkok to topple the government, leading many to fear a repeat of scenes last April when riots at an Asian summit and in the capital left two people dead and scores injured.
“I would like to tell the Democrats: Don’t be so jubilant about the misfortune of a man who has been treated unjustly,” Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan said yesterday. “Thai society will not accept those who tread on the unfortunate.”
Authorities deployed up to 35,000 extra security forces across the country for the verdict, but there was no sign of trouble from the Red Shirts, who have insisted they will continue their movement without violence.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
RSS