Yingluck Shinawatra faces 5 year ban from politics

Ousted Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra gestures a traditional greeting to members of the media after facing impeachment proceedings by the military-stacked National Legislative Assembly (NLA) at the parliament in Bangkok on January 9, 2015. Shinawatra launched a defiant defence on January 9 at the first hearing of impeachment proceedings that could see her banned from politics for five years and deepen the country's bitter divisions. AFP PHOTO / PORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKULPORNCHAI KITTIWONGSAKUL/AFP/Getty Images

Analysts say the hearing is aimed at ensuring the ousted leader stays out of politics for the foreseeable future.

Her supporters say the charges against Ms Yingluck are politically motivated and part of a broader campaign that led to the overthrow of her government in an army coup last year.

Military-appointed lawmakers are expected to issue a verdict by the end of the month. If impeached, Ms Yingluck could be banned from politics for five years. The former Prime Minister was forced from office in May by a court verdict that declared she had illegally transferred the nation’s security chief. That decision came after months of street protests and one day before Thailand’s anti-graft commission indicted her on charges of dereliction of duty in overseeing a widely criticised rice subsidy programme, which accumulated losses of at least $4 billion and temporarily cost Thailand its position as the world’s leading rice exporter.

At yesterday’s hearing, Ms Yingluck defended the rice scheme as “worthwhile” and designed to support farmers. “I guarantee that I ran the country with honesty, fully under the given authority, with transparency and justice,” she said.

She also questioned the legitimacy of the impeachment process and said it was “unnecessary” since she was no longer premier. Ms Yingluck insisted for months last year that the Southeast Asian nation’s fragile democracy was being dismantled by protesters, the judiciary that removed her and finally the army, which staged a 22 May coup that wiped out the remnants of her administration.

Ms Yingluck’s swift ascension was largely due to the popularity of her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-exile in Dubai.

Analysts say yesterday’s hearing is really about curbing the power of the Shinawatra family and keeping them out of politics. The junta has spoken of holding elections in 2015, but no date has been set.

“The impeachment is geared to keep Yingluck at bay,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak of the Institute of Security and International Studies in Bangkok. “If she’s allowed to run in the next election, there’s a good chance that she might win.”

The National Legislative Assembly, hand-picked by the junta and dominated by active and retired military officers, is deliberating on whether Ms Yingluck neglected her duties by allowing the failed subsidy programme to continue.

The scheme, under which the government paid farmers double market price, was a flagship policy that helped Ms Yingluck’s government win votes in the 2011 general election.

On Thursday, the legislature began separate impeachment hearings against a former House speaker and a former Senate president for allegedly trying to amend the constitution, which the army suspended when it seized power.