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Thaksin ally quits Thai cabinet | Thaksin ally quits Thai cabinet |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Thai cabinet minister allied to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has resigned after being accused of criticising the monarchy. | |
Jakrapob Penkair stepped down after the police said they would charge him with lese majeste, a serious offence which can lead to a 15 year prison sentence. | |
The move comes amid political tension over the government's plans to revise the military-drafted constitution. | |
Rumours of another military coup are shaking investor confidence. | |
Deep rift | |
Political careers in Thailand routinely survive all sorts of mud-slinging - but any allegation of disloyalty to the monarchy is usually fatal. | Political careers in Thailand routinely survive all sorts of mud-slinging - but any allegation of disloyalty to the monarchy is usually fatal. |
So it has proved to Jakrapob Penkair, an outspoken cabinet minister and one-time protege of Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire prime minister who was ousted by a military coup in September 2006. | |
The offending comments were made in English in a speech to foreign correspondents last August. Their translation and interpretation have been the subject of intense debate. | |
Mr Jakrapob insists he intended no offence. | |
The issue is a highly emotional one in Thailand. | |
King Bhumibol Adulyadej is almost universally revered here - but he is 80 years old, and there is barely-concealed public anxiety over the succession. | |
Opponents of Mr Thaksin, whose allies run the current government, believe he has a hidden, anti-monarchy agenda. | |
So when the government announced it would try to amend the military-drafted constitution earlier this year, that prompted a resumption of street protests by some of the same groups who led the campaign against Mr Thaksin two years ago. | |
They will doubtless see the resignation of one of his most loyal supporters in the government as a victory. | |
But the deep rift between the pro- and anti-Thaksin camps is still unresolved, after more than two years. |
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