Thai junta helped Malaysia cover up 1MDB scandal, newly banned opposition party claims

A Future Forward Party spokeswoman told reporters on Sunday that the junta had formed a ‘dark alliance’ with Malaysia after 2014’s military coup

Bangkok also harboured Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, despite an Interpol red notice in place against him, she said

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Prayuth Chan-ocha, Thailand’s prime minister and former junta leader. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00pm, 23 Feb 2020Updated: 10:03pm, 23 Feb 2020

A banned Thai opposition party on Sunday accused the former military junta of helping cover up Malaysia’s multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, urging Thais to demand the truth ahead of a censure debate against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

The Future Forward Party, the third-largest party in parliament, was dissolved on Friday by Thailand’s Constitutional Court over a loan it took from its billionaire founder.

The dissolution was decried by democracy advocates as a way to weaken opposition to the government of Prayuth, who first came to power in a 2014 military coup and led a military junta until after elections last year that his pro-army party won.

Future Forward’s spokeswoman, Pannika Wanich, told reporters at a news conference on Sunday that the junta had worked with Malaysia’s former government to arrest a whistle-blower in the 1MDB case in 2015 and had allowed financial criminals to operate in Thailand, risking the country’s international ties.

Future Forward Party spokeswoman Pannika Wanich. Photo: AFP

“The junta government yearned for international acceptance after the coup … and formed a dark alliance with Malaysia,” Pannika said.

“The only person who can issue these orders is Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha,” Pannika said.

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