When Thaksin Shinawatra went into self-imposed exile in 2008 after he was charged with abuse of power following a military coup that overthrew his government, he issued a handwritten note.
“If I am fortunate enough,” wrote Thaksin. “I will return and die on Thai soil.”
On Tuesday, the now 74-year-old finally returned to Thailand as Pheu Thai, the latest incarnation of his populist political movement, prepared for a vote in parliament on its candidate for prime minister.
Despite his long absence, Thaksin remains enormously influential in Thai politics.
“It closes a crucial chapter in Thailand’s politics,” Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, said of Thaksin’s return. “He has been such a dominant force over the past two decades.”
A former policeman turned telecoms tycoon, Thaksin used his vast fortune to bankroll his first successful bid for political power in 2001, drawing support from the rural north and northeast with a raft of policies in areas such as healthcare and employment that promised to improve people’s lives and income.
As the leader of Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party, he was the first Thai prime minister to complete a full term in office and was re-elected in a landslide in 2005.
Born into a prominent family of ethnic Chinese in July 1949 in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thaksin started a small computer dealership in 1987, building it into the Shin Corporation, Thailand’s biggest telecommunications conglomerate.
He went into politics in the 1990s, and had stints as foreign minister and then deputy prime minister.
But after he was elected prime minister – Thaksin called himself Thailand’s first “CEO prime minister” – opposition grew among the urban middle class and traditional elite who feared he was nothing but a crony capitalist, and that Shin Corp was benefitting from his rule with government contracts. It didn’t help when he sold the publicly listed company for nearly $2bn to Singapore investment company Temasek, triggering accusations of insider trading.
Others were alarmed at his human rights abuses, amid a deepening conflict in Thailand’s mostly Muslim southern provinces and his self-styled war on drugs.
Amid accusations that he had insulted the revered monarchy, the yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) took to the streets and in September 2006, the military seized power in a coup as Thaksin was due to address the United Nations in New York.
Two years later, Thailand’s supreme court found him guilty of violating conflict of interest laws while in office, and sentenced him in absentia to two years in prison.
Thaksin dismissed the charges as politically motivated and skipped bail to head overseas.
‘A fighter’
Even with Thaksin in exile – mostly in Dubai – he remained a formidable force in Thai politics, which has been locked in a renewed cycle of elections and coups since his removal.
“He’s the most divisive figure in the country,” a trusted Thaksin associate told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
“Nobody had ever stood up to a coup. Everyone (else) who was overthrown in a coup faded out and got out of politics. The guy is a fighter.”
Parties linked to Thaksin have remained popular over the past 15 years, and his younger sister Yingluck won elections for the Pheu Thai party in 2011 following a violent crackdown on pro-Thaksin “red shirt” protesters that left dozens dead. Yingluck was removed by the military in 2014 after sustained protests by the conservative “yellow shirts” – and followed her brother into exile.
Thaksin is seen by many as the true master of Pheu Thai, which came second in May’s general election and is set to lead the country’s next coalition government.
Thaksin regularly took to the Clubhouse social media platform under the moniker “Tony Woodsome” to address supporters in Thailand while he was in exile.
Thaksin pays his respects in front of a portrait of King Maha Vajiralongkorn as he arrives at Don Muang. As prime minister, he was accused of insulting the monarchy [Wason Wanichakorn/AP Photo]
Over the past year, he has thrown his weight behind his daughter Paetongtarn as she took up the Pheu Thai mantle and led the party’s election campaign as one of its candidates for prime minister.
He is believed to be particularly close to the 37-year-old and has said his main motivation for returning to Thailand is to spend time with his grandchildren.
But first, he faces the prospect of prison after being convicted in his absence in several criminal cases and sentenced to eight years in jail.
Some officials have said he would be eligible for a pardon and could get better treatment as a result of his age.
Still, Pheu Thai did not win the May election.
Victory went to the progressive Move Forward party, which shocked the establishment after securing a wave of support, particularly from young people, on a platform of reform to the military and monarchy.
Thaksin may still be able to count on the rural heartlands but after 15 years away his influence is under pressure – not from the establishment but a younger generation who yearn for change.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
