Yingluck Shinawatra
Yingluck Shinawatra (Thai: ยิ่ง ลักษณ์ ชิน วัตร [ jîŋlák t̠͡ɕ innáwát ʰ ], RTGS transcription Yinglak Chinnawat; born June 21, 1967) is a Thai manager and politician ( Pheu Thai Party). Since August 2011 she has been Prime Minister of Thailand.
Life before entering politics
Yingluck was born on 21 June 1967 as the youngest of nine children of Lert and Yindee Shinawatra. She is the sister of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and telecommunications entrepreneur. After school, she took a degree in Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Chiang Mai, where she graduated in 1988 with a bachelor's degree. She continued her studies in political science in the United States at the Kentucky State University, where she earned master's degree in 1990. After returning to Thailand, she worked in various companies of the Shinawatra family in leading positions. From 2002 to 2006 she was Chief Executive of mobile operator Advanced Info Service (AIS ), then General Secretary of the nonprofit Thaicom Foundation. Yingluck lives in a - in Thailand it is widespread - not registered marriage with Anusorn Amornchat, a manager of M Link Asia Corporation. The couple has a son.
Top candidate and election as Prime Minister
On 11 May 2011, nominated by the opposition Pheu Thai Party ( PTP) Yingluck, who was by then politically hardly have appeared, as a top candidate for the parliamentary election of 2011. She is the first woman in Thailand who was a candidate for the office of the Prime Minister. The party PTP is near its 2006 ousted as prime minister brother who lives according to his conviction for abuse of office in exile. Thaksin remarked to her candidacy that Yingluck was not his puppet, but rather his " clone ". He also campaigned so that his sister could make decisions in his place: ". , You can say in my name, Yes ' or 'No' " He later explained that he had meant by " clone " that both have the same descent, Yingluck is also an experienced manager and successful business woman and she learned from him. In the election campaign, Yingluck called explicitly to Thaksin. She asked regularly: "If you love my brother, his younger sister then you will give a chance? " Their supporters were affirmative always loudly.
In the elections on July 3, her party won an absolute majority. On 5 August 2011, the parliament elected Yingluck to the first Prime Minister of the country.
Time as prime minister
Your first 23 members (including next to her just another woman) comprehensive cabinet was sworn in on August 10, 2011. Right at the beginning of its mandate, the government was faced with addressing the flood disaster during and after the rainy season 2011. The government has been criticized for lack of coordination between the authorities involved. Yinglucks personal commitment, however, brought her a sympathy and let them win in the public perception of political format.
A major political project of Yinglucks government was the introduction of a guaranteed minimum price for rice to the government since the farmer buys the grain. This led to a rapidly rising national debt and crowded store with unsellable on the world market rice. 10% of the state budget went into this program. They also realized the promised during the election campaign tax returns for the first home and the first car of a family, so that the domestic demand should be stimulated.
According to the economists specializing in Thailand and poverty researcher Peter Warr both the rice, as well as the first- car program are populist and unfit to fight poverty. Instead of helping the truly needy, large amounts of taxpayers' money would flow to small interest groups. Thailand's arms could not afford a car anyway. Instead, rich second car buyers have often sent forward a carless straw man in order to pocket the tax advantage. Main beneficiaries are the car manufacturers who wanted to increase their sales. Also from the guaranteed rice price would be small farmers, who consume a portion of the grain self-produced and do not sell, much less benefit than large farmers, warehouse and rice mill owners. The programs would therefore tackle any of the economic and infrastructural deficits Thailand's sustainable.
From 2012, the Yingluck government has been distributed to every first grader a tablet computer as a teaching aid. Although the education budget with 20 % of total expenditure accounted for the largest item in the state budget, cuts the country in international educational comparisons from regular below average.
Following a Cabinet reshuffle on June 30, 2013 Yingluck also took over the defense department - even in this office she is the first woman. From taking office until August 2013 Yingluck paid an official visit to 42 states. The opposition criticized the Yingluck spend too much time on foreign travel and too little in parliament. It was absent in over 30 % of the meetings of the House of Representatives, among them were politically central debates. The Prime Minister defended their trips to be useful for inter-state relations, especially for the Thai commercial interests. In November 2013 both chambers of parliament approved a strained by the government Yingluck project on bonds totaling 2.2 trillion Baht ( equivalent to about 50 billion euros ) for major infrastructure projects.
Yinglucks government adopted an amendment to the Constitution in force since 2007 in Thailand. Primarily, the composition of the Senate should be modified. The determined by a selection committee senators who make up almost half of the members of the House of Lords should be replaced by directly elected in the provinces. The Constitutional Court declared a corresponding bill passed by the Parliament Amendment Act in November 2013 as inconsistent with fundamental constitutional principles. Yingluck did not accept the verdict.
On the occasion of a project initiated by Yinglucks government amnesty law, which would also means impunity for her exiled brother Thaksin, it came from November 2013 mass protests led by Suthep Thaugsuban opposition. The amnesty law has been due to the protests now reset. After Yingluck had survived a confidence vote in parliament in November, it announced that in view of the ongoing protests on 9 December, the king to ask for the dissolution of parliament in order to perform on February 2, 2014 elections can. The protest leaders Suthep is satisfied with this solution, however, is not satisfied. He calls instead for the complete withdrawal of the Shinawatra family out of politics and the government takeover by an appointed " Council of the People" from non-party.