BANGKOK // Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday she would not resign ahead of national elections set for February 2, her voice filling with emotion as he discussed her family’s role in Thai politics.
Ms Yingluck spoke one day after she announced elections – and one day after the main opposition leader ended a massive protest rally of 150,000 people by insisting his movement had now assumed broad political power.
The streets of Bangkok were quiet yesterday, a national holiday, after weeks of sometimes violent political turmoil as protesters demand Ms Yingluck give up power to an unelected “people’s council.”
The protesters accuse Ms Yingluck of serving as a proxy for her billionaire brother, the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields immense influence in the country.
She became choked up when reporters asked, as they often do, about her family’s position in Thailand’s political scene.
“I’m not without emotion,” she said, her voice quavering. “I’m also Thai. Do you not want me to set foot on Thai soil anymore?
“I have retreated as far as I can. So I ask to be treated fairly,” she said, turning and walking quickly away from the podium.
Her brother Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire, was toppled by a 2006 military coup that laid bare a deeper conflict between Thailand’s elite and largely urban middle class on one side, and Mr Thaksin’s power base in the countryside on the other. That base benefited from his populist policies designed to win over the rural poor.
Ever since, the two sides have been duelling for power, sometimes violently. Since the latest unrest began last month, at least five people have been killed and at least 289 injured.
The latest round of protests started last month when Ms Yingluck’s party tried to pass a bill that would have granted amnesty to Mr Thaksin and others.
Ms Yingluck insisted yesterday that she would remain the interim head of government until February 2. “I must do my duty as caretaker prime minister according to the constitution,” she said.
The protesters were not quieted by Monday’s announcement of new elections, saying they cannot win the polls because of corruption. The opposition Democrat Party, allied with the protest movement, has been defeated by Thaksin-allied parties in every election since 2001.
Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, who faces an arrest warrant on insurrection charges, spoke to more than 150,000 followers Monday at a stage near Ms Yingluck’s offices, challenging authorities to “Come get me.”
He said that his movement was assuming some functions of government, citing a clause in the constitution stating that “the highest power is the sovereign power of the people.”
“This means that from now on the people will appoint the prime minister of the people and appoint the government of the people,” he told a cheering crowd.
Mr Suthep challenged Ms Yingluck to resign to make way for a new prime minister to be appointed outside of normal constitutional procedures.
But there was no sign yesterday that Mr Suthep’s movement had assumed any government powers, or that Ms Yingluck’s administration would cede any to them.
Mr Suthep on Monday called for civil servants to report to the protest group instead of the government, and urged citizens to set up their own neighbourhood peacekeeping forces to take over from police. The protesters have castigated the police for being zealous defenders of the government.
If we lose to the “Thaksin regime,” he said, “we will be their slaves until we die.”
* Associated Press
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
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