THAILAND: Thailand's constitutional court will today consider a petition accusing prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of violating a conflict-of-interest law that regulates cabinet ministers' relationships with private companies.
The petition, filed by 28 senators, claims Mr Thaksin still had de facto control over Shin Corp - the conglomerate he founded - after transferring ownership to his children and other close relatives before he became prime minister in 2001. The court's 15 judges will deliberate whether they should conduct an intensive review of Mr Thaksin's relationship with Shin Corp.
If the court agrees to a full hearing on the matter - which is by no means certain - it would cast a long shadow over the prime minister and start a legal battle that could culminate in his removal from office.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Chulalongkorn University political scientist, said: "It will be a long, drawn-out process and very politicised.
"Government performance and running the country is going to stall, not just because of this court case, but the whole movement to overthrow Thaksin."
Mr Thitinan said the prime minister would lose momentum on the policy front because he would have "to spend most of his time staying in power".
Mr Thaksin, who won a landslide re-election victory a year ago, has faced intense public criticism and calls for his resignation since his family sold its 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp to Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government's investment arm.
The sale, which delivered a Bt73 billion (€1.5bn) tax-free profit to the Shinawatra family, incensed many urban Thais, who considered the prime minister a nationalist champion and were stunned when he allowed the country's largest mobile phone operator, a satellite company and a TV channel to fall into foreign hands.
Although Mr Thaksin has insisted his son and daughter had opted to sell the conglomerate so he could concentrate on governing, many Bangkok residents believe he was deeply involved in the decision to sell.
Mr Thaksin has insisted he has done nothing wrong and scoffed at calls for his resignation, because he retains a huge majority. "I have no worries," he said after the petition was lodged. "There is no problem."