BANGKOK: The Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has proposed the creation of a national reform council as a part of her efforts to bring the country’s ongoing political crisis to an end.
However, it does not seem that the Yingluck Shinawatra’s idea of reform council will work because the protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a former deputy prime minister, has already said he will not accept the idea of a reform council.
The protesters led by Suthep Thaugsuban have been endeavoring to overthrow the government of Yingluck Shinawatra since last month, accusing her of being a proxy of former premier and her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled by a 2006 military coup and has been lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction.
Suthep Thaugsuban has also vowed to disrupt the upcoming elections scheduled to be held on February 2 and appears to be aiming to create such chaos that Yingluck Shinawatra will have to resign.
In a statement in Bangkok on Wednesday, Yingluck Shinawatra said that the council would not be a government body, and its 499 members would be appointed by an independent commission, including the commander of the armed forces, business and academic leaders and economists.
The premier said that it would be tasked with amending the constitution and addressing corruption, money politics and ensuring electoral reform.
