Thai opposition to choose Thaksin's sister for PM

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 7th january, 2011

BANGKOK-- A sister of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra has emerged as a possible opposition candidate for prime minister as elections loom, a party spokesman said Friday.

"Some Puea Thai members are throwing their support behind Yingluck (Shinawatra) (pictured) as one of the party candidates for prime minister but we have to consult and vote at the party's general meeting," said Pormpong Nopparit.

He said the party would pick their candidate after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the leader of the pro-establishment Democrat Party, dissolves parliament, which by law must be done sometime this year.

Thaksin, 61, lives abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption. He remains a deeply divisive figure in Thailand and is wanted on terrorism charges for allegedly inciting anti-government protests in Bangkok last year.

The telecoms tycoon-turned-premier drew wide support from Thailand's rural poor during his time in office but was deposed by a military coup in 2006 and faces allegations of corruption and abuse of power.

He still has many supporters, particularly within the "Red Shirt" opposition movement behind mass street protests in Bangkok in April and May that left more than 90 people dead in clashes between armed troops and demonstrators.

Yingluck, 43, is the youngest of Thaksin's siblings. If elected to office, she would be Thailand's first female prime minister.

She is currently executive president of Thai real estate firm SC Asset Corp.

She is also a former president of the mobile telephone unit of Shin Corp., the telecoms giant founded by Thaksin that was at the centre of a tax scandal over the sale of the family's shares in the group in 2006.

"She's very humble and has good human relations, but it's not the time to say that Yingluck would definitely be our choice," said Noppadon Pattama, a Thai-based legal adviser to Thaksin.

Earlier, local news reports said Thaksin, who is currently based in Dubai, had endorsed former commerce minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan to lead the party.

Puea Thai head Yongyuth Wichaidit, a former bureaucrat, is seen by observers as a caretaker leader lacking popular appeal, with Thaksin wielding the real power from his self-imposed exile.