With many protesters rallying before his ministry on Thursday, Thailand's foreign minister Tej Bunnag explained that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej would have a final say on whether to revoke passports held by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who is now living in London.
"It is a national issue, so the Foreign Ministry needs an instruction from the prime minister," Tej was quoted by local news network The Nation as saying.
It is not unprecedented for a Thai PM to revoke diplomatic passport of former premier, he said.
Tej made the statements protesters led by People's Alliance forDemocracy rallied in front of the ministry, demanding the ministry to cancel all passports held by Thaksin and his wife Pojaman. They said the couple were now criminal fugitives and were seeking asylum in England.
Thaksin, who was ousted during a military coup in 2006, is now holding both diplomatic and ordinary passports. He and Pojaman didnot appeared to report to the Supreme Court on Aug. 11 for a hearing on their trials in a land deal case deal. Instead, they flew to London on the same day and Thaksin later announced their decision to seek asylum in England in a handwritten statement.
However, according to Thai laws, a prime minister could hold the diplomatic passport all life.
Source: Xinhua
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