BANGKOK: Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has submitted a request for a royal pardon in his latest move in a long-running power struggle with the establishment in the country.
Thaksin arrived on a private plane and greeted supporters before being moved to a jail to serve an 8-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest during his tenure.
Hours later, Srettha Thavisin of the Shinawatra-backed Pheu Thai party won a parliamentary election to become prime minister with the support of pro-military legislators.
Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon, still wields influence in the country’s politics, with parties loyal to him winning every vote in the past two decades until this year.
This month’s events have fuelled speculation that the former premier has struck a deal with his bitter rivals in the royalist military and conservative establishment, which ousted his parties in coups in 2006 and 2014, at the time alleging him and his parties of corruption and disloyalty to the powerful monarchy.
Former prime minister denies allegations
Thaksin denied those accusations and has rejected talk of a deal with the military. On his first night in prison, Thaksin was shifted to a police hospital on account of high blood pressure and chest pains.
If a royal pardon is not granted, Thaksin will have to wait 2 years to submit another request.
