Too soon to discuss Yingluck’s return, deputy PM Somsak tells critics
“It is still too far-fetched to talk about it”, Deputy PM Somsak Thepsuthin declared in response to speculation that former premier Yingluck Shinawatra may be seeking to return to Thailand.
Somsak made this comment on Tuesday after several critics claimed that Yingluck may try to use the same methods to return home as her brother, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra.
Yingluck was tried and sentenced in absentia in 2017 to five years in jail for negligence in implementing her government’s rice subsidy scheme.
Talk about her return began surfacing after she was cleared by the court in two other cases against her.
In December, Yingluck was cleared of malfeasance for transferring Thawil Pliensri from his post as National Security Council chief in 2011.
On March 4, she was cleared by a court over handling funds for a 2013 government PR project, after which her niece, Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, said she hoped her aunt would be able to return home soon.
Paetongtarn’s comment prompted critics to cry foul, saying Yingluck would also escape punishment like Thaksin did.
Thaksin returned to Thailand in August last year to face eight years in jail over three convictions, but ended up not spending a single night behind bars. He was rushed out of the Bangkok Remand Prison on the very first night and stayed at the Police General Hospital until he was released on parole last month.
Somsak noted that a special House committee in charge of considering amnesty for political prisoners only just started meeting recently, and it will be a long way for it to come up with an amnesty bill.
He added that there would be several steps to be taken if Yingluck wanted to seek royal clemency like Thaksin, whose eight-year term was commuted to one year.
As for criticism that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin would meet Thaksin when their trip to Chiang Mai overlaps this week, Somsak said it was not an issue worth bothering about. He said Srettha could meet Thaksin whenever and wherever he wanted.
He added that even if Srettha is seen with Thaksin, there should be no confusion as to who is the prime minister because Srettha has full authority to run the country.
