Thai anti-graft agency to charge hundreds of legislators
Yingluck and the 72 others were among 381 senators and former MPs against whom complaints were filed for supporting the amendment draft bill to make the Senate, the legislature's upper house, fully elected.
The National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC) today ruled that 308 pro-government lawmakers had acted illegally. The ruling will lead to a further investigation and could eventually result in banning the lawmakers from politics.
The NACC, whose mandate includes probing possible abuse of power, said Yingluck and 64 Senators and former MPs voted for the bill only in the third reading, while eight others did not vote for it, and so it decided not to pursue the investigation against them.
Action will be taken against 293 former MPs and senators who voted for the bill in the first and second readings and 15 politicians who sponsored the bill.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the bill was unconstitutional and lawmakers had acted illegally by violating procedures and weakening the system of administrative checks and balances.
Yingluck's supporters see the case as part of political manoeuvres aimed at removing her Puea Thai party from power.
The premier has been under intense pressure since anti-government protesters escalated a campaign aimed at removing the Shinawatra clan from power.
They claim that the government is controlled by Yingluck's fugitive brother Thaksin Shinawatra, who is in self-exile to avoid a prison term for a corruption conviction.
They have demanded that Yingluck should hand over power to an unelected "People's Council" to carry out reforms before the polls.