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Thailand’s divisive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra touched down by private jet in Bangkok on Tuesday, returning to the kingdom after 15 years in exile.
Hundreds of people gathered to see Shinawatra, a business tycoon-turned-politician, as he arrived in Thailand at 9 a.m. local time (0200 GMT) at Bangkok’s Don Mueang airport. He had boarded a private jet from Singapore.
Just a couple of hours before his arrival, his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra — who is also a former Thai prime minister — shared pictures and a video of him boarding the plane on Facebook.
“The day my brother has waited for has arrived,” she posted, alongside images of him on a plane. In a video also posted, Thaksin can be seen shaking hands with the crew before boarding the private jet.
After his arrival, Thaksin was escorted by the police to the Supreme Court. The court is due to hear the sentences against him, according to police.
Self-imposed exile
Shinawatra was ousted in a coup 17 years ago.
He later went into a self-imposed exile but the polarizing leader has maintained a significant stranglehold over Thailand’s politics.
Who is Thaksin Shinawatra?
Born into one of the most prominent ethnic Chinese families in northern Chiang Mai province, the 74-year-old became known for overhauling Thailand’s politics after he was elected prime minister in 2001.
Thaksin is loved by the rural poor for his policies that focused on Thailand’s health system and labor but is despised by the powerful elites who see his tenure as corrupt, authoritarian and disruptive.
Before he became prime minister he formed his own political party, Thai Rak Thai, in 1998, which later came to be known as Pheu Thai party and brought Thaksin’s sister Yingluck to power in 2011.
Thailand gears up for high-voltage political drama
Thaksin’s arrival in Thailand after 15 years of exile comes on the day a deadlocked parliament is going to vote for a new prime minister.
Legislators are set to vote in the afternoon for business tycoon Srettha Thavisin as prime minister. Thavisin, who has become the face of Thaksin’s political movement, will head the coalition led by the Pheu Thai party.
Since March, an interim government has been in charge in Thailand. The country’s parliament has been under a deadlock for weeks leaving the coalition led by the Pheu Thai party to form a government.
Thaksin was convicted in four criminal cases in his absence, although the statute of limitations has expired in one. The sentences against him total 10 years.
mfa/jsi (AP, AFP, Reuters)
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