- Title: UAE: Ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra says he has no desire to return to politics
- Date: 5th July 2011
- Summary: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (JULY 4, 2011) (REUTERS) DUBAI SKYLINE NEAR FORMER THAI PM, THAKSIN SHINAWATRA'S HOUSE SHINAWATRA'S RESIDENCE JOURNALISTS GATHERED OUTSIDE SHINAWATRA'S HOUSE / SHINAWATRA WALKS OUT AND GREETS THEM (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER THAI PRIME MINSTER, THAKSIN SHINAWATRA, ANSWERING QUESTION ABOUT HIS POSSIBLE RETURN TO THAILAND TO GO BACK INTO POLITICS, SAYING: "I may be too old, I have been with the party for too long and I really want to retire. Actually I announced that when I was in the office, that I really plan to retire when I am 60, but you see I am 62, it's long overdue for me." JOURNALISTS TAKING NOTES CLOSE OF NOTEPAD (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER THAI PRIME MINSTER, THAKSIN SHINAWATRA, ANSWERING QUESTION GOING BACK TO THAILAND, SAYING: "Going back is not necessarily going to be going back into politics, I may turn pro in golf (laughs), at 62. (Question asked off screen: "so you don't want to be Prime Minister again?"). You know when my youngest sister became prime minister, so it's not for my generation anymore (Question off screen: "so you don't want to be prime minister?"), no, no." JOURNALIST LISTENING JOURNALIST USING HER NOTES AS FAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER THAI PRIME MINSTER, THAKSIN SHINAWATRA, ANSWERING QUESTION ABOUT HIS SISTER'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE, SAYING: "Some period of political development, you need clean sheet. If you were to have people with a lot of political baggage and come to reconciliation, then it's maybe difficult but now because she has no political baggage and maybe that much experience in politics, but she knows about politics even though she doesn't have hands-on (experience) herself but I think it's good for reconciliation." SHINAWATRA TAKING QUESTIONS CLOSE OF RECORDING DEVICES IN FRONT OF SHINAWATRA SHINAWATRA THANKS MEDIA AND WALKS BACK THROUGH DOORS
- Embargoed: 20th July 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: United Arab Emirates
- Country: United Arab Emirates
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAOE5K2QTPCTPWMPOC6EIO8I9R
- Story Text: Exiled former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Monday (July 4) he had no wish to become prime minister again in the wake of a landslide election victory for his sister's opposition party.
"I may be too old, I have been with the party for too long and I really want to retire," he told reporters outside his house in the Gulf emirate of Dubai, where he has been living in exile.
Thaksin, a billionaire twice elected premier, was ousted in a 2006 coup.
When pressed on his role in the new Thai political landscape, Shinawatra joked about becoming a professional golfer and said he would not seek his old position as prime minister.
"Going back is not necessarily going to be going back into politics, I may turn pro in golf (laughs), at 62. When my youngest sister became prime minister...it's not for my generation anymore," he said.
Yingluck Shinawatra's election victory clears the way for her to roll out a long list of Thaksin-style programmes that could influence the direction of southeast Asia's second largest economy.
Thaksin said in Dubai that there might be some inflation in the first quarter of 2012 but it would be offset by growth.
When asked about his sister's lack of experience in politics, Shinawatra said that that could be positive at times.
"For some period of political development, you need clean sheet. If you were to have people with a lot of political baggage and come to reconciliation, then it's maybe difficult but now because she has no political baggage and maybe that much experience in politics.... I think it's good for reconciliation," he said.
On Monday, Thailand's powerful military accepted a stunning election victory by the party of the fugitive former Prime Minister, adding to a new sense of stability in a country plagued by unrest since his ouster in a coup five years ago.
A day after the victory by the Puea Thai Party headed by Thaksin's youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, the military agreed not to intervene or stop her from forming a government, according to the outgoing defence minister. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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