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Pita Limjaroenrat: leading Thailand’s political earthquake

Thai opposition leader Pita Limjaroenrat defied expectations as his Move Forward Party took the lead in the popular vote, challenging a decade of military-backed rule.

The 42-year-old, known for his dynamic presence and promise of political reform, aims to rewrite Thai history and bring about change after years of discontent. However, he faces the challenge of forming a coalition to secure the prime minister position.

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BANGKOK, THAILAND — Few tipped him seriously as a likely prime minister, but Thai opposition leader Pita Limjaroenrat looks set to play a major role after voters rejected almost a decade of army-backed rule.

With most of the votes from Sunday’s polls counted Pita’s radical Move Forward Party was leading the popular vote ahead of the more established opposition Pheu Thai party.

This represents an extraordinary achievement for a party whose forerunner was dissolved and its leader banned from politics.

The photogenic 42-year-old Pita has been a dynamic presence on the campaign trail, capitalising on his youth and energy to reach voters disillusioned and yearning for change after eight years of the dour military-backed government.

“We will together rewrite Thai political history. Vote Move Forward, Thailand changes,” he told ecstatic supporters at MFP’s last rally in Bangkok on Friday.

The election is the first since major youth-led pro-democracy protests erupted across Bangkok in 2020 with demands to curb the power and spending of Thailand’s king — breaching a long-held taboo on questioning the monarchy.

MFP is the only party promising to reform the lese majeste laws, known as 112 in Thailand after their section in the penal code.

A hugely controversial and sensitive subject, it has long been held as an untouchable in Thai politics. Even opposition rivals Pheu Thai said they would leave the issue to parliament.

But Pita has not shied from it, telling reporters late Sunday that “no matter what, we will push for royal lese majeste law reform”.

Political heartthrob

The father of one is considered a political heart-throb, inspiring pop-star levels of hysteria from his supporters.

Educated in New Zealand and the United States, he studied at Harvard on an international scholarship, before going on to become an entrepreneur.

However, following his father’s death when he was 25, Pita returned home to run his family’s heavily-in-debt business Agrifood, turning its fortunes around. He later became the executive director of the transport and delivery app Grab Thailand.

In 2012 he married Thai TV actress Chutima Teepanat, and they have a seven-year-old daughter. The marriage broke down in 2019.

His daughter has featured prominently in the campaign with Pita bringing her on stage after speeches, much to the crowds’ delight.

Online, he has utilised a public “personal” account — followed by almost one million users — to share images of him and his daughter wearing matching t-shirts and eating ice cream together.

But despite the success at the ballot box, there is no indication his path to prime minister will be straightforward.

He must now cobble a coalition together to surpass government-appointed senators who elect Thailand’s PM from among eligible candidates.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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