BANGKOK: Thailand’s king has stripped fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of his royal decorations, citing his 2008 flight to escape serving a two-year prison term on a conflict of interest conviction and other legal cases against him.
Thai media reported that the royal command from King Maha Vajiralongkorn was published Saturday in the Royal Gazette.
The move follows a March 24 general election in which a party loyal to Thaksin claimed it won enough seats to form a coalition that would hold a majority in the House of Representatives. Final certified results will not be issued until May 9, and the Election Commission has warned there could be some disqualifications by then.
Last week, a military award Thaksin has been given was revoked by the army, with the explanation that he failed to deserve the honor.
Vajiralongkorn on election eve had issued a statement urging voters to select “good people” for public office, a message taken as implicit support for Thaksin’s opponents, mainly the military-backed Palang Pracharath Party, which won the highest number of popular votes.
Thaksin, a billionaire with populist policies, became prime minister in 2001 but was ousted by a 2006 military coup. Abuse of power and disrespect for the monarchy were two of the accusations that were offered as justification for the coup.
The army staged another coup in 2014 against a government that had been formed by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was forced out of office on a controversial charge, later found guilty of negligence in her duties, and also fled into exile.
The 2014 coup was led by then-army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has been junta chief and prime minister since then, and is the candidate of Palang Pracharath Party.
The 2006 coup set off a sometimes violent struggle for power between Thaksin’s supporters and opponents, and pro-Thaksin parties staged several comebacks even though the military and other royalists have tried to dismantle his political machine.
These include changes in the constitution and election laws under the military government that were meant to handicap parties loyal to Thaksin.
The hostility of royalists toward Thaksin has been evident since he was in office, though was never expressed directly by members of the royal family, including Vajiralongkorn’s father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016. The royal family by tradition is above politics.
Vajiralongkorn’s older sister, Princess Ubolratana, caused an uproar in February when the pro-Thaksin Thai Raksa Chart Party registered her as its nominee for prime minister. The move was initially seen as a clever ploy by Thaksin’s political machine to immunize itself against charges that it opposed the monarchy. It backfired badly when the king declared it inappropriate and unconstitutional, and the party was dissolved by the courts before the election, hurting the pro-Thaksin forces.
Princess Ubolratana, however, made a high-profile appearance at the wedding reception of one of Thaksin’s daughters in Hong Kong just two days before the election. Photos and video of the event showed Thaksin welcoming her warmly.
Thailand’s monarchy is protected by strong lese majeste laws that make whatever is judged defamatory of the royal family punishable by three to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Thai king strips fugitive ex-PM Thaksin of royal decorations
Thai king strips fugitive ex-PM Thaksin of royal decorations
- Thaksin became prime minister in 2001 but was ousted by a 2006 military coup
- A military coup in also kicked out Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra as PM in 2014
Senegal counts votes as new leaders eye parliamentary win
- It has emerged as the vote winner in most of the first polling stations to give their provisional results, according to media reports, beating the two main opposition parties
DAKAR: Senegal began counting votes Sunday after parliamentary elections in which the new government is aiming for a resounding majority to deliver the ambitious reform agenda that swept it to power eight months ago.
Voting took place peacefully across the West African country, and reliable projections of the new parliament’s makeup could be available from Monday morning.
Tallying started shortly after a polling station in the capital Dakar closed at 6:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), an AFP journalist saw.
The governing Pastef party of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye is the favorite to win.
It has emerged as the vote winner in most of the first polling stations to give their provisional results, according to media reports, beating the two main opposition parties.
Faye secured victory in March pledging economic transformation, social justice and a fight against corruption — raising hopes among a largely youthful population facing high inflation and widespread unemployment.
But an opposition-led parliament hampered the government’s first months in power, prompting Faye to dissolve the chamber in September and call snap elections as soon as the constitution allowed him to do so.
“I hope that Pastef will win the elections to gain a majority so that they can better carry out their mandate,” said Pascal Goudiaby, a 56-year-old voter in Dakar.
“The priority is unemployment, young people are facing so much unemployment,” he said.
Faye appointed his firebrand mentor Ousmane Sonko as prime minister. Sonko’s own bid to run for president had been blocked following a three-year deadly standoff with the former authorities.
The pair promised a leftist pan-African agenda, vowing to diversify political and economic partnerships, review hydrocarbon and fishing contracts and re-establish Senegal’s sovereignty, which they claimed had been sold abroad.
Mademba Ndiaye, a 20-year-old student, was voting for the first time.
“It’s one of the only ways we can really have an impact on society, and I think that if we don’t vote, we couldn’t really complain about what happens in society afterwards,” he said.
Various actors reported that the turnout on Sunday was typically lower than in the presidential election.
Senegal’s roughly 7.3 million registered voters were called to elect 165 MPs for five-year terms.
Voters have historically confirmed their presidential choice during parliamentary elections, say analysts.
“I think that whoever you gave your confidence to in the presidential election, you need to renew your confidence in him so that he can achieve what he started,” said 56-year-old voter Toure Aby.
“We want life to be less expensive for the Senegalese,” she added. “Everything’s expensive: water, electricity, food.”
Voters continued a long democratic tradition in Senegal, widely seen as a stable outlier in a coup-plagued region.
Faye and Sonko both called for calm as they cast their ballots.
“Democracy is expressed in peace and stability, and I believe that in a democracy there is no room for violence,” Sonko said in the southern city of Ziguinchor.
Reminiscent of his years as a fiery opposition leader, he had called for vengeance after attacks against his supporters, but later urged restraint.
Clashes were only sporadic in the run-up to the vote. Although some agreements have been reached between coalitions, the opposition remains fragmented.
Former president Macky Sall is leading an opposition grouping from abroad called Takku Wallu Senegal. On Sunday it claimed the vote was marred by “massive fraud organized by Pastef,” without providing details.
Sall left power in April after triggering one of the worst crises in decades with a last-minute postponement of the presidential election.
Former prime minister and presidential runner-up Amadou Ba and Dakar’s mayor Barthelemy Dias are also heading coalitions.
The opposition has accused the new government of inaction, amateurism and a desire to settle scores with the previous administration.
Unemployment stands at more than 20 percent and scores continue to risk their lives every month attempting to reach Europe by boat.
The government said an audit of public finances revealed a wider budget deficit than previously announced.
Moody’s downgraded Senegal’s credit rating and placed the country under observation.
The new authorities have lowered the price of household goods such as rice, oil and sugar and launched a series of reviews.
They also launched justice system reform and presented an ambitious 25-year development plan aimed at transforming the economy and public policy.
Ukraine strikes on Russia with US missiles could lead to world war, Russian lawmakers say
- “This is a very big step toward the start of World War Three,” lawmaker Vladimir Dzhabarov says
- Poland, defending Ukraine, said missiles against Russia is “a language Putin understands”
MOSCOW: Washington’s decision to let Kyiv strike deep into Russia with long-range US missiles escalates the conflict in Ukraine and could lead to World War III, senior Russian lawmakers said on Sunday.
Two US officials and a source familiar with the decision revealed the significant reversal of Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict earlier on Sunday.
“The West has decided on such a level of escalation that it could end with the Ukrainian statehood in complete ruins by morning,” Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, said that Moscow’s response will be immediate.
“This is a very big step toward the start of World War Three,” the TASS state news agency quoted Dzhabarov as saying.
President Vladimir Putin said in September that the West would be fighting Russia directly if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict.
Russia would be forced to take what Putin called “appropriate decisions” based on the new threats.
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma lower house’s foreign affairs committee, said that US authorization of strikes by Kyiv on Russia with US ATACMS tactical missiles would lead to the toughest response, Russian news agencies reported.
“Strikes with US missiles deep into Russian regions will inevitably entail a serious escalation, which threatens to lead to much more serious consequences,” TASS news agency quoted Slutsky as saying.
NATO member Poland welcomed Biden's decision, saying missiles against Russia is “a language Putin understands.”
“With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday’s) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V. Putin understands,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X.
“The victim of aggression has the right to defend himself,” Sikorski added in his post. “Strength deters, weakness provokes.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pushed for authorization from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that approval would mean that NATO was “at war” with his country — a threat he has made previously when Ukraine’s Western backers have escalated their military assistance to Kyiv.
Gabon votes yes on new constitution a year after the military seized power
LIBREVILLE, Gabon: Voters in Gabon overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, authorities said Sunday, more than one year after mutinous soldiers overthrew the country’s longtime president and seized power in the oil-rich Central African nation.
Over 91 percent of voters approved the new constitution in a referendum held on Saturday, Gabon’s Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said in a statement read on state television. Turnout was an estimated 53.5 percent, he added.
The final results will be announced by the Constitutional Court, the interior minister said.
The draft constitution, which proposes sweeping changes that could prevent dynastic rule and transfer of power, needed more than 50 percent of the votes cast to be adopted.
In 2023, soldiers toppled President Ali Bongo Ondimba and put him under house arrest, accusing him of irresponsible governance and massive embezzlement that risked leading the country into chaos. The junta released Ondimba a week later on humanitarian grounds, allowing him travel abroad for medical treatment.
The soldiers proclaimed their Republican Guard chief, Gen. Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, as president of a transitional committee to lead the country. Oligui is a cousin of Bongo.
Bongo had served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father, who ruled the country for 41 years. His rule was marked by widespread discontent with his reign. A coup attempt in 2019 failed.
The draft constitution imposes a seven-year term, renewable only once, instead of the current charter that allows for five-year terms renewable without limit. It also says family members cannot succeed a president and abolishes the position of prime minister.
The former French colony is a member of OPEC but its oil wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few — and nearly 40 percent of Gabonese aged 15 to 24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. Its oil export revenue was $6 billion in 2022, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
France, UK and Poland reaffirm support for Kyiv as Russia targets Ukraine’s power facilities in massive missile attack
- UK’s Starmer allies have to double down now to support Ukraine for as long as it takes
- Missiles against Russia ‘a language Putin understands’, says Poland's FM
BUENOS AIRES/LONDON/WARSAW: France, Britain and Poland on Sunday reaffirmed their support for Ukraine as Russia staged its biggest missile attack since August, targeting Ukraine's power facilities with the winter setting in.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the relentless air barrage showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not want peace and is not ready to negotiate.”
The priority for France was to “equip, support and help Ukraine to resist,” Macron told reporters as he prepared to leave Argentina to attend the G20 Summit in Brazil. “It’s clear that President Putin intends to intensify the fighting,” he added.
He declined to comment on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s call with Putin on Friday, stressing that Ukraine’s allies “must remain united .... on an agenda for genuine peace, that is to say, a peace that does not mean Ukraine’s surrender.”
He added that he would only consider a call with the Russian leader when the “context” was right.
In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he has no plan to speak with Putin as he pledged support for Ukraine as the UK’s top priority at this week’s G20 summit.
Speaking with reporters on the way to the meeting in Brazil, Starmer said he wouldn’t speak to Putin as Scholz did on Friday.
The call between the two leaders, which the Kremlin said was initiated by Germany, was the first publicly announced conversation between Putin and a major head of a Western power in almost two years.
Ukraine's Zelensky criticized the call and said it would only make Russia less isolated.
Ukraine’s allies fear that the election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has questioned US aid sent to Kyiv and spoken favorably about Putin, could alter support from Washington, its biggest backer.
Starmer said allies have to double down now to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
“We are coming up to the 1,000th day of this conflict on Tuesday,” Starmer said. “That’s 1,000 days of Russian aggression, 1,000 days of huge impact and sacrifice in relation to the Ukrainian people and recently we’ve seen the addition of North Korean troops working with Russians which does have serious implications.”
The UK has committed $16.15 billion in aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Also on Sunday, Poland welcomed news that US President Joe Biden had cleared Ukraine to use long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, something Kyiv had been urging for months.
“With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday’s) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V.Putin understands,” Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X.
“The victim of aggression has the right to defend himself,” Sikorski added in his post. “Strength deters, weakness provokes.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pushed for authorization from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that approval would mean that NATO was “at war” with his country — a threat he has made previously when Ukraine’s Western backers have escalated their military assistance to Kyiv.
Rising Islamophobia poses threat in UK amid ‘bleak and dystopian’ political climate, warns head of race equality think tank
- Shabna Begum said political rhetoric had fueled the problem
LONDON: The UK is witnessing an escalation in Islamophobia that risks becoming “brutally divisive,” with failure to address its underlying causes potentially leading to more racist riots, according to the chief executive of the Runnymede Trust think tank.
In an exclusive interview with The Guardian newspaper, Shabna Begum, who took the helm of the race equality group earlier this year, highlighted how political rhetoric has fueled the problem.
“The way politicians talk about Muslims now is so derogatory, it’s in the most brutally divisive terms,” she said, adding that British political discourse had evolved beyond Sayeeda Warsi’s “dinner table test,” a phrase coined by the Conservative peer in 2011 which claimed Islamophobia had become socially acceptable.
Referring to last summer’s riots, Begum warned that without change, such violence could become recurrent.
“(The unrest) was the ugliest representation of the years of racism that have been manufactured through the political media conversation. And if we don’t do something differently, that ugliness will become just a regular feature of our politics,” she said.
The Runnymede Trust’s report on Islamophobia, launched with backing from Warsi, Amnesty International UK, and the Muslim Council for Britain, documented increasing hostility faced by British Muslims.
It cited Tell Mama’s findings of a 335 percent spike in hate incidents in the four months up to February 2024, with women disproportionately affected.
Police figures indicated that nearly 38 percent of religious hate crimes targeted Muslims, and anti-religious hate crimes reached a record high last year, coinciding with the Israel-Gaza conflict, which broke out on Oct. 7 last year.
Begum emphasized that the issue extended beyond physical attacks to “state-sponsored Islamophobia” embedded in policies and narratives, without naming specific politicals, and added that the ruling Labour Party and the Conservatives had both been guilty of feeding a “bleak and dystopian” hostile climate for British Muslims.
She also highlighted the double standard faced by Muslims in public life, saying: “Whether it’s through being governors at schools, as we see through the Trojan horse affair … we are seen trying to take over and hijack local schools.”
She continued: “Or when we go on protest marches, along with many other people, we are described as hate marchers and Islamist extremists. And when we use our vote to express our political preferences, we’re described as sectarian and divisive.”
Drawing on her personal history as the daughter of Bangladeshi migrants who grew up in Tower Hamlets in London, Begum described how her upbringing had shaped her understanding of systemic discrimination.
After more than two decades as a teacher, she moved into academia, ultimately leading her to running the Runnymede Trust.
While she welcomed a recent £15 million ($18.9 million) community recovery fund introduced by the UK government, she called for more substantial investment to combat structural racism.
“What we’re objecting to is a dispersal of insecure funds to community groups... There’s no point saying all Muslims are all bad, but go and have a cup of tea with them in your local community.”
