Veera Musikapong
Veera Musikapong ( Thai: วีระ มุสิก พงศ์, RTGS: Wira Musikaphong; official first name Veerakarn; born May 24, 1948 Amphoe Ranot, Songkhla Province ) is a Thai politician. Between 1980 and 1988 he held various positions Cabinet Member, 1986-1987 also Secretary General of the Democratic Party. Later, he was a deputy for the Thai Rak Thai Party. Since the coup in 2006, he is a leader of the movement of the " red shirts ".
Life and career
Veera Musikapong comes from southern Thailand. He graduated in 1972 his study of law from at Thammasat University in Bangkok. His political career began in the Democratic Party, for which he was elected to Parliament in 1975. In 1975 and 1976 he was a government spokesman of the Prime Minister Seni Pramoj. In the Cabinets of Prem Tinsulanonda he was 1980-1988 successively deputy agriculture, transport and interior minister. 1986 to 1987 he was Secretary General of the Democratic Party. Veera held an intra-party wing, which rivaled that of the party chairman Bhichai Rattakul. He threw Bhichai ago favoritism because he had suggested his son, Pichit Rattakul as a minister. Bhichais wings made then for Veeras replaced as General Secretary by Sanan Kachornprasat.
1988 Veera was sentenced to four years in prison for high treason. At a campaign event in campaign 1986, he had stated that he would have been better born a prince and painted publicly how comfortable and effortless, his life would have been then. The commander in chief of the army, General Arthit Kamlang -ek and the royalist politician Samak Sundaravej testified against him, while his party colleague, who later became Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai testified in his own defense. In the first instance, the court in Buriram had acquitted him. However, the Supreme Court found him guilty. After a month in prison pardoned by the King. Background for the prosecution Veeras was probably the controversy over the extension of the term as Chief of the General Arthits land forces and the pursuit of governance. Veera was considered a close confidante of former Prime Minister Prem, who was an opponent of efforts Arthits.
Then he left the Democratic Party, founded the small Prachachon party and lost his parliamentary seat. In 1990, he joined the party of New Hope Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, whose vice chairman, he was. The party went in 2001 to the Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT ) of Thaksin Shinawatra, for which he won a parliamentary seat again in 2005. After the military coup in September 2006, which ousted Thaksin, Veera as the other leading members of the TRT, occupied by the " Constitutional Tribunal " with a five-year exclusion from political office.
He was one of the main leaders of the movement of the " red shirts ", became chairman of its parent organization United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD ). He was chairman of the Thaksin -affiliated television station People 's Television and one of the three moderates the political talk show Truth Today.