Asia-Pacific

Thaksin's sister may not to become PM

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-05-23 18:52

BANGKOK - The fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that his sister Yingluck Shinawatra may not become the next prime minister even if the opposition Pheu Thai Party won the election.

In an exclusive interview with a local press Matichon, Thaksin said he feared that Yingluck would be attacked and destroyed by the ruling Democrat party if she became the government head.

Thaksin said he was considering several PM choices, including Mingkwan Saengsuwan, Pracha Promnok and Yongyuth Wichaidit as well as a few other outsiders.

Thaksin had been a prime minister from 2001-06 before he was ousted by a bloodless coup detat in 2006 for allegedly massive corruption, power abuses and undermining the country's democratic institutions. He was convicted for corruption in 2008 and has lived abroad since to avoid a two-year prison sentence.

The former billionaire telecommunications tycoon remains a powerful player in Thai politics and is Pheu Thai's de facto leader. The ousted premier was also a chief supporter behind the red-clad United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) street protest movement which had held prolonged rallies from March to May last year.

Yingluck, Thaksin's youngest sister, was put at Pheu Thai's No. 1 party-list candidate for the July-3 general election with the feasibility of being appointed as the PM if the party could form a government.