THAILAND:Ousted and exiled Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose supporters triumphed in a weekend general election, faces arrest on corruption and fraud charges if he returns home, a senior prosecutor said yesterday.
Owner of Manchester City FC, Mr Thaksin (58) and members of his family face corruption-related charges stemming from the former leader's six years in office.
The multimillionaire was overthrown in a bloodless, military coup last year and has lived abroad, mainly in the UK, since then, but he said this week he was looking into returning home.
Samphan Sarathana, a senior official in the Office of the Attorney General, said: "The court and police had already issued arrest warrants on him so once he arrives back to Thailand the authorities concerned are duty-bound by law to arrest him.
"The police have to comply with arrest warrants which have already been issued by the courts. The case has gone too far for a reversal."
The Supreme Court issued warrants in August for Mr Thaksin and his wife on charges of official misconduct and violating a ban on politicians or their close relatives doing deals with state bodies while in office.
The People Power Party (PPP), which openly supports him, won the most seats in a December 23rd election. With 233 out of 480 seats in parliament, PPP is far and away the strongest party and looks set to form a coalition government, despite post-election suggestions the army and royalist establishment would try to block it.
Nothing is expected to be finalised before January 3rd, when the election commission is due to complete its investigations into various complaints of vote fraud and misconduct which could result in disqualification.
Reruns have already been ordered in three seats won by PPP, although analysts say the number of disqualifications will have to be very high to have a material impact on the result.
Mr Thaksin, who has been in London for most of the time since his removal, watched the elections from Hong Kong.
From there, he said he was exploring options to come back to Thailand between mid-February and April. He vowed to stay out of direct politics but said he was prepared to serve as adviser to the PPP.
An arrest warrant was issued for Mr Thaksin in August after he failed to appear in court in a case involving conflict of interest in a land deal while he was in power. His wife, Pojamarn, is accused of illegally buying real estate from a government agency effectively controlled by her husband.
The military-appointed government that succeeded Mr Thaksin launched several investigations into his alleged corruption and have frozen millions in family assets. Other cases against him and family members are pending.