Word: courtelis
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...former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who himself had been deposed by a bloodless military coup in 2006. A billionaire tycoon who now lives in self-imposed exile in Britain, Thaksin has been charged with corruption in several different cases. (On the same day Somchai was voted in, the Supreme Court issued a third arrest warrant against Thaksin for failing to show up in court.) But even though Samak is gone and his predecessor charged with criminal wrongdoing, the Thaksin connection remains. Somchai, a former judge who served in Samak's cabinet as Education Minister, also happens to be Thaksin...
Indeed, Thailand's latest political crisis, which has driven away foreign tourists and caused the country's stock market to swoon, is looking ever more intractable. Samak was kicked out of power in an unlikely fashion. Last week, the Constitutional Court determined that he had contravened the national charter by accepting compensation for a second job while serving as Prime Minister. The job? Hosting a few episodes of a T.V. cooking show. The payment? $2,300. Although the court ordered Samak to step down, there was nothing stopping his People Power Party (PPP) from re-nominating him as Prime Minister...
Unlike Samak, Somchai is not one to up the ante, and he has vowed to "bring unity" back to Thailand. The new P.M. also vowed not to interfere in the ongoing court cases against his brother-in-law. Nevertheless, the basic rift between the rural poor, who support Thaksin, and the urban middle class and elite, who despise him, is only growing wider. Furthermore, another case that will reach the constitutional court in the coming months might force the dissolution of Somchai's PPP because of a vote-buying conviction against its former deputy leader. If that happens, Somchai will...
...allocation of the earnings of Bolivia's natural gas exports, which originate in their regions. Earlier this year, the departments of Tarija, Santa Cruz, Pando and Beni voted overwhelmingly in favor of opposition-drafted autonomy statutes, but since those referenda were not sanctioned by the national electoral court, the central government refuses to recognize the results...
...interesting to hear from him about how the court has changed,” she said...