Wednesday, September 17, 2008

All in the Family

Alas, I'm not referring to 70's sitcom featuring the iconic Archie Bunker, but rather Thai politics. Today the Thai parliament avoided dissolution and elected PPP deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat as the new PM.

In addition to (or perhaps because of) his role as the deputy leader of the PPP, PM Somchai also had the qualification of being the brother-in-law to deposed PM Thaksin. Of course the PAD protestors are not happy with the decision, decrying Somchai as a Thaksin puppet.

Speaking of Thaksin, today the Thai Supreme Court also delayed the verdict against Thaksin and his wife on a land buying deal. The court postponed the verdict until October 21st, stating that the couple should be present for the verdict.

If anyone has any doubts about the verdict, this should certainly make it clear. The court is certainly not interested in their presence to apologize for wasting their time. I think its pretty clear that a guilty verdict and some jail time are on the way. Given that she has already fled the country after one guilty verdict, the chances of them coming back had the court rendered a guilty verdict are pretty slim.

No comments: