Thai lawmakers impeach ex-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra

(Image credit: Borja Sanchez Trillo/Getty Images)

On Friday, Thailand's parliament retroactively impeached former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, accusing her of mismanaging a scheme involving overpaying farmers for rice. Shinawatra was removed by Thailand's top court last May, days before a military junta took control of the country in a coup. The 190-18 impeachment vote by the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly bans Shinawatra from politics for five years. "The junta has not explained how people who no longer hold political office can be impeached," notes The New York Times, dryly.

Earlier on Friday, the attorney general's office said it will pursue criminal charges against Shinawatra over the rice scheme, possibly landing Thailand's first female prime minister in jail for 10 years. Thailand's military-royalist faction has been in a political war with the Shinawatra family for a decade. Yingluck Shinawatra and her exiled brother Thaksin, also a former prime minister, are popular among Thailand's rural poor.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.