By Ed Cropley Wed Dec 26, 5:12 AM ET
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Slowly but it seems surely, the party backing ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is shaping up to form Thailand‘s next government, a stunning reversal of fortune after last year’s military coup.
Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would face arrest on corruption and fraud charges if he returned to Thailand, a senior official at the Attorney General’s office said Thursday. Thaksin is pictured here during a press conference in Hong Kong, on December 25.(AFP/File/Mike Clarke)
Nobody doubted that the People Power Party (PPP), the reincarnation of Thaksin’s disbanded Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) political juggernaut, would come first in Sunday’s election.
But after a 15-month army-led campaign to discredit Thaksin and his five years in office, few thought they would come within just eight seats of an outright majority in the 480-member parliament.
Thai Muslims look at the results of the poll a day after elections in the southern province of Yala December 24, 2007.(Bazuki Muhammad/Reuters)
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