The former prime minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, has had his eight-year prison term reduced to one year by the country’s King.
Following his 15-year self-imposed exile, Mr. Thaksin returned home last month and was immediately imprisoned.
He was then transferred to a state hospital’s opulent wing after complaining of heart issues.
Mr. Thaksin has consistently claimed that the sentences that are still pending on charges of corruption and abuse of power were motivated by politics.
One of Thailand‘s most influential and polarizing figures, Mr. Thaksin was overthrown by a military coup in 2006 and fled the nation two years later to avoid serving a prison term.
His return on August 22 was thought to be a part of a larger political arrangement. And it was a plan to form a compromise government by bringing his popular Pheu Thai party and its former rivals together.
That’s what it did. A new coalition government led by Pheu Thai elected Srettha Thavisin as the new prime minister hours after he arrived. The coalition includes former military foes of Mr. Thaksin who overthrew his party in a coup in 2014.
King Vajiralongkorn swiftly granted Mr. Thaksin’s request for a pardon, cutting the eight-year sentence he was serving to just one. It is clear that Mr. Thaksin had hoped for leniency as part of that agreement. Mr. Thaksin will likely remain in the hospital.
The royal gazette on Friday mentioned his age and “illness” in response to his request for a royal pardon. According to the statement, Mr. Thaksin “has done good for the country and people and is loyal to the monarchy”.
Mr. Thaksin must have hoped that his sentence would be overturned rather than simply reduced.
The long-standing conflict between Mr. Thaksin and the conservative royalists that had hung over Thailand for the previous 20 years has now been resolved by his return and acceptance of his sentence. however at the expense of having a greatly diminished political profile.
Source-BBC
