BANGKOK, Feb 20 (AFP): Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra protested her innocence Thursday after an anti-corruption panel filed charges of neglect of duty that could lead to her removal from office.
The embattled premier is under intense pressure from various legal challenges and almost four months of mass street protests demanding her resignation.
Yingluck questioned why the investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) into an expensive rice subsidy scheme had apparently been fast-tracked.
"I reaffirm that I am innocent of the accusations by the NACC," Yingluck said on her official Facebook page.
"Even though I am accused of criminal charges and face removal (from office), which were the wishes of people who want to overthrow the government, I am willing to cooperate to establish the facts," she added.
The NACC says Yingluck ignored warnings that the rice scheme was fostering corruption and causing financial losses. She has been summoned to hear the charges on February 27.
Yingluck urged the panel not to rush to deliver a ruling "which may be criticised by society as benefiting people who want to overthrow the government". She noted that similar complaints against the previous administration were still under investigation.
Her critics say the controversial scheme, which guarantees farmers above-market rates for rice, has encouraged corruption, drained the public coffers and left the country with a mountain of unsold stock.
Yingluck said she was simply trying to improve the lives of farmers, some of whom have staged protests because they have not been paid for months under the scheme-a delay the government has blamed on the demonstrations.
Thai PM protests innocence amid sacking threat
FE Team | Published: February 21, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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