The haunting of dubious politicians

[webfact]

The haunting of dubious politicians

By The Nation

 

 

Former premiers Thaksin Shinawatra and Najib Razak have had a bad week due to criminal suspicions
 

The tale of two former prime ministers – one in Thailand, the other in Malaysia – caught in corruption and related crimes following their fall from power should serve as a fresh reminder for all politicians that, in a civil society, no one is above the law.

 

Thaksin Shinawatra, long estranged from his homeland as a fugitive from justice living in self-imposed exile, is the subject of a fresh arrest warrant.

 

On top of all his other legal entanglements, he is now charged with failing to appear in court in a criminal case involving his alleged abuse of power in facilitating the state-owned Export-Import Bank’s Bt4-billion loan to Myanmar while he was premier in the early 2000s.

 

The warrant, issued by the court earlier this week, is the fifth for Thaksin, who fled the country in 2008. He has previously been summonsed for alleged abuses of power in approving the conversion of a telecom concession into an excise tax to benefit his family’s telecom business, facilitating another multibillion-baht loan granted by state-owned Krung Thai Bank for a real estate group, and helping his former wife buy state-owned property.

 

The Supreme Court’s criminal division for holders of political office has been proceeding with all these cases against the ex-premier despite his failure to show up at hearings. The high court is empowered under the Constitution to conduct trials in absentia.

 

In Malaysia, meanwhile, recently ousted premier Najib Razak was arrested this week by anti-corruption authorities in Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur. The move comes less than two months after he lost the general election to another former premier, Mahathir Muhamad, who vowed in his campaign to hold Najib to account over massive corruption in the controversial 1MDB case. Shortly after Mahathir took over, Najib was barred from leaving the country as he was preparing to fly to Indonesia.

 

In the 1MDB case, Najib was alleged to have siphoned billions of ringgit from the state investment fund into his personal bank accounts. Mahathir pledged during the election campaign he would try to recoup as much as US$4.5 billion missing from 1MDB. Appearing in court on Wednesday,

 

Najib pleaded not guilty to corruption and breach of trust – charges levelled by the new government. He was granted a bail, but had to surrender his passports. Najib denied any wrongdoing and said not all the charges were true. He is preparing to fight the cases in court. If the Malaysian high court finds Najib guilty, he could face a jail term of up to 20 years and substantial fines.

 

According to investigations conducted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and other authorities, the ex-premier – who was mentored by the elder Mahathir – committed wrongdoing, as evidenced by 1MDB’s irregular transactions worth a combined US$4.2 billion. Najib supervised the state-owned investment fund while he was serving as prime minister and finance minister.

 

In addition, the US Department of Justice earlier said money from 1MDB was used to buy luxury homes, artworks and stakes in Hollywood movies. Najib said in a video, “I accept that today is the day my family and I face the world’s tribulation.” Earlier, Malaysian police seized $273 million worth of luxury and other items in connection with Najib, including cash, Hermes handbags, Rolex watches, diamond necklace, and 200 designer sunglasses.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30349431

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-07-06

[pegman]

Be that as it may the next Thai election will be won in a landslide for the Thaksin connected party. 

[YetAnother]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Thaksin Shinawatra, long estranged from his homeland as a fugitive from justice living in self-imposed exile,

he enjoys the benefits of economic asylum as a multi-billionaire, so what if he can't currently live in thailand, number 32 in best countries to live, he can fly his family,cronies,fiends to visit him in luxury;

he has already bilked thailand and they cannot tough him

[Lungstib]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

a fresh reminder for all politicians that, in a civil society, no one is above the law.

That's not quite true is it?  What the stories tell us is that when in the top position of a country its possible to break the law, manipulate the system and get away with illegal dealings. Its the loss of that power that allows the discovery of the crimes and the chance to punish it. Only the future will show what becomes of the successors of these two politicians, whether they too have bent the rules, broken the law and misbehaved in their efforts to bring their type of politics to the fore. Self-granted amnesties may not always hold up.

[nausea]

Just now, Lungstib said:

That's not quite true is it?

Agreed, "following their fall from power" is the key phrase here.

 

 

[humbug]

how about renaming the article;

 

'The haunting of dubious military persons'

 

Total garbage been written as usual per 'orders'  to spread mis-information

 

ever since pheu thai said 

'no more military conscription'

there has been unending media coverage on pheu thai exploding  and a thousand more court cases for 'one' man, along with usual heres 50 million now support the p's party

[ramrod711]

1 hour ago, YetAnother said:

he enjoys the benefits of economic asylum as a multi-billionaire, so what if he can't currently live in thailand, number 32 in best countries to live, he can fly his family,cronies,fiends to visit him in luxury;

he has already bilked thailand and they cannot tough him

True, he is protected by his billions, which he stole, or "bilked", if you prefer. Coups are not desirable or effective in the long term, but ridding the country of the Shins certainly is.

[sammieuk1]

Dubious "r" Us. 

[Odysseus123]

The Thaksin obsession continues.....and must of course, for if you do not have an external enemy you definitely require an internal bogeyman to help facilitate your grip on power.

[robblok]

Finally the more serious cases get prosecuted and only the most die hard red supporters still try to deny the guy was corrupt. Clear cases like the one now where he forced a bank to loan money below cost 670 million loss for the bank, so Birma could buy telecom equipment from Thaksin his own company. Clear case of corruption.

 

Part of it is futile of course as he will remain on the run, but at least it will be finally clear that he was guilty of much more then a simple land deal. Corrupt politicians should be prosecuted no exceptions of who they are or who they serve, corrupt military should be prosecuted too. Unfortunately the military and some politicians are protected from prosecution a really bad situation that should be solved too. But that should not mean that other corruption cases like that of Thaksin and others should not be dealt with. Quite a few red supporters seem to think that because other politicians don't get convicted Thaksin should walk too.

 

I of course disagree, because if you let him walk what is next.. let all the bureaucrats and politicians that stole from the poor in the scandals go too.. I mean where does it end if you let clear cases of corruption walk free because other cases are not prosecuted.

 

Its of course stupid reasoning to do so, it would be far more logical to rally against those cases that are not being prosecuted and put pressure on the goverment to do so. That way your trying to improve thing here instead of giving everyone a free pass on corruption only strengthening the belief of politicians and others its ok to be corrupt. 

[klauskunkel]

comparison:

Najib - was denied to leave the country until end of his trial

Thaksin - was allowed to leave the country and subsequently fled

 

Najib - had to surrender his passports

Thaksin - had a passport delivered to him in exile by the Thai foreign minister

[yellowboat]

Najib Razak Has been on shaky ground for a while.  The educated in Malaysia hated him.   He was ousted by the people not by a military thug, dimwit or wet blanket with an odd messiah complex.  Thaksin's pursuers do not have the credibility, decency or IQ the Malaysian people have.  Not same same

[Vacuum]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

his alleged abuse of power in facilitating the state-owned Export-Import Bank’s Bt4-billion loan to Myanmar while he was premier in the early 2000s.

[Eric Loh]

Article 44 the mother of all abuse of power. 

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Article 44 the mother of all abuse of power. 

Agreed Eric, but that does not make Thaksin innocent just means that Prayut is guilty too and should face justice.

 

Simple instead of defending someone who is obviously corrupt by saying but they did it too, just try to get both of them to face justice. Would be far more beneficial then letting them both walk free and set an example for future politicians / junta ect.

 

 

[Odysseus123]

17 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Article 44 the mother of all abuse of power. 

Indeed,Eric.

 

The binary nature of the present day political process would appear to indicate that it is-in one form or another-here to stay.

 

As long as they are able to demonize their opposition and continue labelling them as a "threat" without ever being queried by the press one would expect more of the same.

[Cadbury]

While Thaksin was certainly dubious it does not alter the fact there are a number of politicians/generals out there today governing the Country who are both dubious and odious. 

[yellowboat]

45 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Article 44 the mother of all abuse of power. 

A44 and unelected members of parliament were way beyond Thaksin's realm of imagination.  The army's understanding of corruption far surpasses that of the Shins.  Thaksin wanted to get elected.  The army would rather beg for sympathy or threaten for compliance

[Eric Loh]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

Najib Razak Has been on shaky ground for a while.  The educated in Malaysia hated him.   He was ousted by the people not by a military thug, dimwit or wet blanket with an odd messiah complex.  Thaksin's pursuers do not have the credibility, decency or IQ the Malaysian people have.  Not same same

The new government could finally lay charges on Najib because of semic changes to the judiciary system. The AG, MACC (NACC) officials who were his lackeys were replaced. The top judge ( another lackey) resigned in shame. Imagine if an elected government in Thailand make similar move; we can expect a coup. As long as those junta lackeys are in position of judiciary power, the military will be above law. Not same same. 

[pipon99]

this little slimy sack of shit cant let go....

[robblok]

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

While Thaksin was certainly dubious it does not alter the fact there are a number of politicians/generals out there today governing the Country who are both dubious and odious. 

Yes and they should be equally prosecuted, I don't like it either that those generals / politicians your talking about are (for now) above prosecution.   Corrupt people should be punished and never be allowed in government ever again. 

[pornprong]

9 hours ago, ramrod711 said:

True, he is protected by his billions, which he stole, or "bilked", if you prefer. Coups are not desirable or effective in the long term, but ridding the country of the Shins certainly is.

Thaksin was a billionaire before he entered politics.

You are a fool to believe that coups are a good thing, particularly for the reason your give.

Thai politics has been corrupt forever.

The only way to reduce corruption is to have democracy.

Coups are the antithesis of democracy.

To say that coups are justified to get rid of Thaksin is to have bought, hook, line and sinker, junta propaganda.

You, like all who post as you do, lack the courage to state what you truly believe and instead hide behind the nonsense that Thaksin is the devil and therefore any and all crimes committed against the Thai people are justified as long as the result is Thaksin is not in government.

Thaksin was run of the mill corrupt, Yingluck was almost certainly the least corrupt politician in Thailand's post 1932 history.

The current government is easily more corrupt than Thaksin ever was or ever will be.

 

Foolish, stupid, idiotic, dumb, counter-productive, fascist nonsense.

Let the Thai people elect whomever they want to lead their country - anything else is fascist nonsense.

[pornprong]

16 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes and they should be equally prosecuted, I don't like it either that those generals / politicians your talking about are (for now) above prosecution.   Corrupt people should be punished and never be allowed in government ever again. 

Fanboy, fanboy, fanboy.

Your posts from 2014 tell us all we need to know about you.

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, pornprong said:

Fanboy, fanboy, fanboy.

Your posts from 2014 tell us all we need to know about you.

Guess you have no arguments anymore. You really can't do it just like Eric.. to say anything bad about Thaksin. Can't accept he is guilty as are so many others and should be punished together with others. Talk about a fanboy. your post prove it all. Its sad actually. 

[Jonah Tenner]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

The haunting of dubious politicians

Is there any other kind of politician?

[pornprong]

1 minute ago, robblok said:

Guess you have no arguments anymore. You really can't do it just like Eric.. to say anything bad about Thaksin. Can't accept he is guilty as are so many others and should be punished together with others. Talk about a fanboy. your post prove it all. Its sad actually. 

Your obsession with Thaksin is the ultimate example of gullibility and stupidity.

Thaksin is no doubt both corrupt and at the same time less corrupt than all the unelected governments that preceded him and succeeded him.

"Thaksin is the devil" is simply a red herring that deceives fools whilst democracy is trampled.

Every single crime Thaksin is either guilty of or accused of - the junta has done much, much worse - by an order of magnitudes.

 

Let the Thai people choose their own government.

 

 

[Eric Loh]

8 minutes ago, robblok said:

Guess you have no arguments anymore. You really can't do it just like Eric.. to say anything bad about Thaksin. Can't accept he is guilty as are so many others and should be punished together with others. Talk about a fanboy. your post prove it all. Its sad actually. 

I only need to say it once before that Thaksin was corrupted. Yours repetitive narrative about junta should be punished which is a non-starter show your disingenuity and rather annoying. You just using Thaksin as an excuse for the junta transgression and crime to the people. 

[robblok]

1 minute ago, pornprong said:

Your obsession with Thaksin is the ultimate example of gullibility and stupidity.

Thaksin is no doubt both corrupt and at the same time less corrupt than all the unelected governments that preceded him and succeeded him.

"Thaksin is the devil" is simply a red herring that deceives fools whilst democracy is trampled.

Every single crime Thaksin is either guilty of or accused of - the junta has done much, much worse - by an order of magnitudes.

 

Let the Thai people choose their own government.

 

 

Wow we are making progress your finally accepting that Thaksin is corrupt. Well done for taking the red blinders off. I can't say if the current junta is more corrupt as Thaksin and neither can you.

 

Thaksin is not the devil, just an other corrupt official that should be punished, just like Suthep, and if proven (court case would be nice).

 

I would love to see you prove your points of the junta being worse then Thaksin, you can't just as I can't prove its the other way around. I don't really care who is worse as I only care that the corrupt are punished. 

 

I agree let the Thai people choose their government, said it countless times. However those elected are not above the law and if corrupt should face justice, just like the junta should face justice for crimes that can be proven. 

 

Maybe once corruption is actually punished things will settle down here because a lot of people will have a lot less interest in being in government if they can steal money from the state.

[robblok]

1 minute ago, Eric Loh said:

I only need to say it once before that Thaksin was corrupted. Yours repetitive narrative about junta should be punished which is a non-starter show your disingenuity and rather annoying. You just using Thaksin as an excuse for the junta transgression and crime to the people. 

Thing is if I don't say that the junta should be punished you call me a fanboy and call it unfair. I constantly get attacked by fanatics like pornprong if I don't say that even in a topic that is all about Thaksin. For me it goes without saying that everyone who is corrupt should face justice but here I have to constantly put the junta there too otherwise people call you fanboy and say I am pro junta. So yea I have to get boring but that is because of the mindless red drones here.

[pornprong]

What a ridiculous article.

The failure to mention the current PM and the many, many cases of corruption his government is accused of is a crime against journalism.

The fundamental difference overlooked is that Najib is being held to account by and ELECTED government.

Thaksin is being persecuted by an unelected and undemocratic and thoroughly corrupted military junta.

The Nation should be ashamed for they are unnecessarily increasing the misery that the Thai people must endure.

When the revolution comes, let's hope that all those deserving of punishment, duly receive it.