Thaksin not appointed economic adviser: Lanka govt

Sri Lanka on Thursday denied reports claiming that former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra was being appointed economic adviser to the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.

Sri Lanka on Thursday denied reports claiming that former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra was being appointed economic adviser to the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime.

HT Image

On Wednesday, leading Thai newspaper the Bangkok Post had reported Thaksin, who is also economic adviser to Cambodia, was being appointed the same with the Lankan government.

Quoting another former Thai pm Somchai Wongsawat, the Bangkok Post said that Sri Lanka was preparing to appoint former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra its economic adviser.

"Mr Somchai, Thaksin's brother-in-law, said the government should not worry because Thaksin's role as adviser to Sri Lanka, as well as to Cambodia, would do no harm to Thailand," the newspaper said.

"Sri Lanka is one of the countries where Thaksin was reported to have frequently visited while on the run after being sentenced to a two-year jail term in the Ratchadapisek land case," the newspaper added.

As the news of the appointment spread in Colombo Wednesday evening, it created a flutter in the diplomatic and bureaucratic circles. But the government issued a denial on Thursday after a local newspaper Daily Mirror carried the story.

"With reference to the recent media speculation that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is poised to be appointed as an economic adviser to the Government of Sri Lanka, the Foreign Ministry wishes to state that these speculations are baseless. The Government would like to categorically deny the information that Thaksin Shinawatra will be appointed as an economic adviser," the Sri Lankan foreign ministry statement said.

The Thai government also sought a clarification from the Lankan government on the issue. Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama assured his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya

during a telephone conversation that Sri Lanka "greatly values the relationship with the government and the people of Thailand, and will not allow any room for jeopardising the warm relations that exist between the two countries."