Fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra claimed she has washed her hands off politics because she has suffered enough from her political role in the past.
In her Twitter post today, she denied a report in the Thai newspapers that she had nominated a former minister to become Pheu Thai party’s candidate for prime minister, saying that the nomination process is an internal affairs of the party.
Ms Yingluck said that for the time being she has had a lot of work and responsibilities to take care of. And on top of that, she said, she suffered enough from her past political experiences.
Quoting informed sources in the Pheu Thai party, press reports said that Ms Yingluck supported former transport minister Chatchart Suthipant to become the party’s top candidate for the post-election premiership instead of Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, the party’s campaign strategy chief, who was earlier tipped to be the top contender.
The reports also pointed out that Khunying Sudarat has of late stepped up her election campaign to show off her leadership.
Former prime minister Yingluck has been living in self-exile with her elder brother, former prime minister Thaksin. She skipped out of the country before the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Offices handed down a five-year verdict on her for her failure to stop massive corruption in the controversial rice pledging scheme of her government in September 2017.
