Bringing Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister convicted of corruption, back to Thailand will bring ‘tension and conflict’ to the country, opposition leader and former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told CNBC on Tuesday.
The current government, led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck, wants to bring the politician back to the country instead of allowing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate allegations of wrongdoing during Thaksin’s term, Abhisit claimed in the interview.
Thaksin was Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006 and was deposed in a military coup during a visit to New York. Thaksin’s supporters in parliament want to bring him back to Thailand, where he faces a jail term after being convicted of corruption.
“This government has at first vowed that it would support the work of that committee. But rather than waiting for the fact finding, and common solutions that both sides can accept, they are actually pushing ahead with their own agenda of bringing Thaksin back and granting amnesty,” Abhisit told CNBC Asia’s on “Squawk Box” . “That’s sure to create tension and conflict.”
Abhisit, who is the leader of Thailand’s Democrat Party was prime minister of the country from 2008 to 2011, before Yingluck won parliamentary elections and became premier.
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