Senior Thai Rak Thai member Pongthep Thepkanjana shows Thaksin Shinawatra’s letter, in which he resigned as party leader. The ousted prime minister sent the three-page letter from London yesterday.

 Having struggled to manage power after deposing prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) has finally accomplished the main goal of the September 19 coup - eradication of Thaksin's regime.

Its announcements on Saturday, the day before it changed its name to the Council for National Security (CNS), were intended to remove Thaksin's regime from Thai politics - perhaps not forever, but long enough to keep the former PM buried in his political grave.

The CDR set two targets to achieve its goal. The first was to target corruption in Thaksin's administration and to seize or freeze assets. The second was to ban Thaksin and his men from Thai politics.

The military junta issued three announcements. Orders number 27 and 31 were attempts to bar Thaksin and Thai Rak Thai Party executives from politics.

The Thai Rak Thai and Democrat parties, plus some minor parties, face cases in the Constitution Court for alleging wrongdoing in the April 2 general election, which could see them dissolved, if found guilty.

Thai Rak Thai was accused of hiring small parties to stand in the ballot to avoid running unopposed, which would have required a minimum turnout of 20 per cent of eligible voters in such constituencies to validate the election.

In announcement No 27, the CDR amended the Political Parties Act to provide for punishment of executives of any party dissolved for violating election law. Party executives will be stripped of their electoral rights for five years.

A new Constitution Court is now being appointed by the CNS. If the court finds Thaksin and his party guilty, they face a five-year ban, which would keep them out of politics for at least two terms of the House of Representatives (four years each).

Even if Thai Rak Thai party was found not guilty, at least the CDR's moves made it difficult for the party to survive. Two days after the announcement, more than half of the party's former MPs - including the party leader, ousted premier Thaksin - resigned, as they feared being stripped of their electoral rights for five years if a court orders the party to be dissolved. The MPs appear to hope they may escape punishment if they resign.

Announcement No 31 gave the National Counter Corruption Committee (NCCC) more clout. Politicians failing to submit their assets list to the NCCC within its deadline will be banned from holding political office for five years. Those found to make a false assets declaration face the same fate.

The CDR sought to put a final nail in Thaksin's coffin, as he is known as a sly person adept at juggling his assets.

There seems little chance that Thaksin can return to Thailand to submit an assets list to the NCCC before the October 19 deadline. Although somebody could arrange the declaration for him, he would not have much time to "remove" or conceal assets. If he's scrambling to fix up financial loose ends in order to conceal or "remove" assets, he might be caught by the NCCC.

The CDR issued announcement No 30 to meet the goal of seizing or freezing assets held by corrupt people within Thaksin's administration.

It added more power and a clearer direction to the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) - after the ruling generals came under fire for issuing an unclear mandate for the previous asset-probe panel, which could have prevented the panel from achieving its goals.

The new committee is empowered to investigate all projects or acts by members of the Thaksin government, plus officials and individuals suspected of irregularities, including tax evasion. The panel can seize or freeze people's assets if it has sufficient evidence.

When cases are concluded, authority will be passed to the Office of the Attorney-General to take action. If the office has a different opinion, the AEC can file the case to the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions or another court to be settled.

Obviously, the AEC has full authority to probe corruption and assets held by former members of Thaksin's cabinet.

The CDR also made a key change by naming a new committee line-up. While Auditor-General Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka is still part of the panel, retired Supreme Court chief and panel chairman Sawat Chotepanich was expected to be changed. Sawat later resigned from the panel.

Some members of the new panel are strong critics of Thaksin. Former NCCC secretary-general Klanarong Chantik played a big role in investigating the Thaksin assets case in 2001. Former senator Kaewsan Atibhoti joined the People's Alliance for Democracy and launched a book entitled "Stop Thaksin's regime" that revealed the former PM's dirty tricks. Panel chairman is Nam Yimyaem, who chaired a panel that found that Thaksin and the former ruling party violated poll laws by contracting small parties to contest the April 2 poll.

Thaksin could easily conclude that his assets might be frozen or seized - the panel members are people who have closely monitored his behaviour for a long time and appear to oppose any wrongdoing he has committed.

The CDR earlier removed many individuals regarded as "cronies" of the former PM within the military, police and civil service.

One day after the coup, Thaksin told reporters on his flight from New York to London that he didn't expect the coup to happen.

It didn't occur to him that it was much more than an ordinary coup. Apparently, it never crossed his mind that the coup would also slam the door on his political future - at least for the next five years.

With his men and his political power base shattered, and clouds over his money and assets now being scrutinised, Thaksin's return from the political grave he dug himself now seems extremely unlikely.

Somroutai Sapsomboon,

 Jintana Panyaarvudh

 The Nation