Thailand's former Prime Minister has defended her role in a controversial rice subsidy scheme, as she faced impeachment hearings that could see her banned from politics for five years and reignite the country's bitter divisions, Aljazeera reports.
Yingluck Shinawatra said on Friday that she tried to
find ways of helping poor farmers as she appeared before a military-appointed
legislature relating to the scheme that forced protests against her now
toppled government.
"I ran the government with honesty and in accordance
with all laws," she said, rejecting the allegation of dereliction of duty
by the nation's anti-corruption body that resulted in the impeachment bid.
The former prime minister told the National Assembly, the
scheme helped poor farmers and alleviated poverty, helping some 1.8
million people.
Critics say the rice subsidy ran up losses up to US$15bn,
and resulted in huge stockpiles with buyers baulking at Yingluck's attempt
to hoard the grain and force up prices.
Yingluck said the proceedings were futile as she no longer
held any political post.
"I was removed from my position as prime minister. I
have no position left to be removed from," Yingluck told the assembly.
She ended a detailed and impassioned defence by urging the
assembly to "deliberate with virtue, without prejudice or a hidden political
agenda".
A successful impeachment needs three-fifths of the
250-strong assembly to vote in favour. A verdict is expected by the end of
January.
Prosecutors are also in the process of deciding whether
Yingluck should face a separate criminal case over the rice subsidy scheme.
Thailand's first female prime minister and sister of
self-exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck was ousted from office
by a controversial court ruling shortly before the army seized power in a coup
on May 22, 2014.
Yingluck's supporters say the proceedings and the criminal
charges are the latest attempt by the royalist elite to neuter the political
influence of the Shinawatras, whose parties have won every election since 2001.
If impeached, Yingluck faces a five-year ban from politics.
But the move is not without risks. A vote to impeach
Yingluck could galvanise her family's 'Red Shirt' supporters to protest, ending
months of silence since the army grabbed power and imposed martial law.
Protests are banned under martial law.
Yingluck's billionaire brother Thaksin, who was deposed as
prime minister in a 2006 coup, is loathed by the Bangkok-centred establishment,
and its supporters, known as 'Yellow Shirts'.
Since Thaksin swept to power in 2001, Shinawatra governments
have been floored by two coups and bloodied by the removal of three other prime
ministers by the kingdom's interventionist courts.
Read more HERE.
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