10/09/2025

WEDNESDAY | SEPT 10, 2025

7

Thaksin jailed one year

Nepal PM Oli quits as protests spiral

“Today, I may no longer have freedom, but have freedom of thought to create benefit for the country and people,” Thaksin said in a statement on social media. Thaksin’s immediate family attended the verdict with him. An emotional Paetongtarn said she was concerned about her father, but also proud. “My dad has created history for the country, including useful policies that benefited the people,” she told reporters. “Today is another historic day where he is the first prime minister to go to jail. This is quite heavy.” Kokaew Pikulthong, a Pheu Thai party lawmaker who was in the courtroom, said Thaksin took the verdict well. “He still has the fighting spirit,” Kokaew said. – Reuters

weeks of political chaos that saw the fall of another Thaksin-backed populist government. The 76-year-old power-broker is experiencing a period of political reckoning after his daughter and protege Paetongtarn Shinawatra was sacked as prime minister by a court on Aug 29 – the sixth premier from or backed by the Shinawatra family to be removed. Paetongtarn’s government fell on Friday, outmanoeuvred by challenger Anutin Charnvirakul, who was elected premier by parliament in a humiliating defeat for Thaksin’s once unstoppable Pheu Thai party, which won five of the past six elections. Thaksin is Thailand’s first former premier to be sent to prison. He accepted the verdict and said he would remain strong.

power while premier from 2001 to 2006 was commuted to one year by the king and Thaksin was released on parole after just six months of detention, which he had spent in the VIP wing of a hospital. The judges said Thaksin had no severe illness and could have been treated in jail, adding both he and his doctors had intentionally prolonged his hospital stay. “The defendant knew the facts or was aware the situation was not a critical emergency. The defendant only had a chronic condition that could be treated as an outpatient and did not require hospitalisation,” it said. A corrections department vehicle carrying Thaksin was seen arriving at a Bangkok jail less than an hour after a ruling that has gripped the country, the latest drama in two

BANGKOK: Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was sent to prison yesterday after the Supreme Court ruled his time in hospital detention was an attempt to avoid jail, a major blow for a powerful family that has dominated politics for two decades. The billionaire had spent only a few hours in prison upon his return from 15 years of self-exile in August 2023 before he was hospitalised after complaining of heart trouble and chest pains, prompting widespread scepticism and public outrage. His eight-year sentence for conflicts of interest and abuse of o Court rules hospital stay was unnecessary

KATHMANDU: Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli resigned yesterday as demonstrators defied an indefinite curfew and clashed with police, a day after 19 people died in violent protests triggered by a social media ban. Oli’s government lifted the ban after protests intensified on Monday, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters trying to storm parliament. Nineteen people were killed and more than 100 injured in the unrest. But there was no let up in the protests yesterday, forcing Oli to quit and plunging Nepal into fresh political uncertainty. The unrest is the worst in decades in the poor Himalayan country that is wedged between India and China and has struggled with political instability and economic uncertainty since protests led to the abolition of its monarchy in 2008. “In view of the adverse situation in the country, I have resigned effective today to facilitate the solution to the problem and to help resolve it politically in accordance with the constitution,” Oli said in his resignation letter to President Ramchandra Paudel. An aide to Paudel said the resignation had been accepted and the president had begun the “process and discussions for a new leader”. The army posted an appeal on X asking people to “exercise restraint” since Oli’s resignation had been accepted. Oli, 73, was sworn in for his fourth term in July last year as the country’s 14th prime minister since 2008. Two of his Cabinet colleagues resigned late on Monday. – Reuters DELHI ELECTS NEW VICE-PRESIDENT NEW DELHI: Indian lawmakers began voting to elect a new vice president yesterday, more than a month after the last incumbent resigned. Jagdeep Dhankar, whose term as vice-president was to expire in 2027, resigned in July citing health reasons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling coalition has nominated as its candidate C P Radhakrishnan, a former lawmaker from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and governor of Maharashtra. Opposition parties have nominated B Sudershan Reddy, a former supreme court judge, as their candidate. – Reuters TWO BRITONS ARRESTED IN BALI JAKARTA: Two British men have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling over a kilogramme of cocaine into Bali. Rudy Ahmad Sudrajat, the head of the Bali Narcotics Agency, said an airport security officer intercepted one of the men, a 29-year-old identified by his initials K.G., during a security check last Wednesday. An X-ray check found around 1.3kg of cocaine in his bag. Police arrested the second man, identified as P.E., at a villa in Bali’s Badung district on Thursday. Rudy said the pair were friends who lived in Thailand and had met in Barcelona. – AFP

BR I E F S

Thaksin being escorted into a police van yesterday. – THAINEWSPIC/AFPPIC

Indonesia switches gear on finance JAKARTA: Indonesia’s new pro growth finance minister, Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said he faced a difficult job as he officially took office yesterday. Destry Damayanti in attendance. “Nobody’s perfect. When one does their job, there are shortcomings ... I humbly apologise,” she said.

The reshuffle comes just under a year since Prabowo took power with promises to lift economic growth to 8% and to introduce some ambitious and expensive social programmes. Growth has largely hovered around the 5% mark with no immediate signs of a spike in economic activity under Prabowo. Purbaya said on Monday it was “not impossible” to grow at 8% and said he would target 6% to 7% in the shorter term, on the back of increased government and private sector participation in the economy. “Mulyani was the safeguard of prudent fiscal policy,” said Hasnain Malik, EM equity and geopolitics strategist at Tellimer. “Her departure will stir up fears of widening deficits under an unconstrained and under pressure Prabowo.” – Reuters

The abrupt removal of Sri Mulyani has stunned markets, as investors fear the hard-fought fiscal credibility could be eroded by the populist spending plans under Prabowo. Yesterday, the central bank said it intervened in the foreign exchange market to ensure the rupiah moved in line with its fundamentals, after the currency fell by more than 1% against the US dollar. The main stock index extended losses made after Sri Mulyani’s departure was announced on Monday, falling more than 1.5% in morning deals, and Indonesia’s international bonds also weakened.

President Prabowo Subianto on Monday replaced Sri Mulyani Indrawati, known for her cautious handling of the economy, with economist Purbaya who has promised accelerated growth, amid fears of an economic slowdown in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. “The task isn’t easy,” Purbaya said at a formal handover ceremony yesterday, citing global challenges in technology and geopolitics. Sri Mulyani said her farewells during the ceremony at the Finance Ministry, with senior Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Bank Indonesia’s senior Deputy Governor

Purbaya said ‘not impossible’to grow at 8%. – REUTERSPIC