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BANGKOK—The office of Thailand’s attorney general on Friday said it intends to file criminal charges against former Prime MinisterYingluck Shinawatra for allegedly mishandling a multibillion-dollar rice subsidy program, potentially threatening the fragile calm that has largely prevailed in the country since a May military coup. The agency said that after consulting with Thailand’s anticorruption agency there was sufficient evidence to press criminal charges against the former leader at Thailand’s Supreme Court. Ms. Yingluck, the sister of populist billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra , who was ousted in a coup in 2006, could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years if she is convicted, a prospect that could infuriate her supporters who have largely kept a low profile since martial law was imposed, analysts and risk consultants say. Ms. Yingluck, 47, also faces possible impeachment as prime minister, despite being removed from office shortly before last year’s putsch for improperly transferring a senior civil servant. A verdict is expected later Friday. If Thailand’s military-appointed legislature votes for impeachment, Ms. Yingluck would be banned from running for any political office for the next five years, effectively sidelining the country’s most popular politician and hardening the fault-lines between Thailand’s civilian populist leaders and its conservative armed forces. Ms. Yingluck’s critics describe the rice subsidy as a reckless attempt to win over rural voters. It was introduced after Ms. Yingluck’s landslide election win in 2011 and involved buying rice from farmers at as much as twice the market price and then stockpiling harvests in the hope of steering global prices higher. The program fell apart when rival exporters such as India and Vietnam increased their shipments to the global market, driving down prices and leaving Thailand with paper losses of more than $15 billion. Ms. Yingluck in her final appearance before the legislature Thursday defended the program as a means to lift incomes in agricultural areas. “It gives farmers the opportunity to have a better life like everyone else,” she said, adding that barring her from politics is a violation of her basic rights and freedom. The attorney general office’s move and the impending impeachment decision aren’t expected to prompt mass protests, at least not yet, Bangkok-based consultancy PQA Associates said. Gatherings of five or more people are outlawed under martial law and the armed forces have been aggressive in breaking up fledgling protests in recent months. The legal cases against Ms. Yingluck, however, risk chipping away at the veneer of neutrality that junta leader Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has tried to erect since seizing power, although he has denied trying to sway any verdict against Ms. Yingluck. At the least, PQA Associates said in note to clients, the cases “will be a further setback to the regime’s legitimacy and could portend a return to civil unrest over the near and medium term.”

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/thai-pm-forced-resign-over-abuse-power-064130824.html