Thailand's deposed prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been impeached by the military-appointed legislature over her contentious rice subsidy scheme.

As many as 190 members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) voted in favour of her impeachment over her "failure" to stop corruption, with 18 voting against the move. The impeachment will ban her from politics for five years.

In addition to the political ban, Thailand's attorney general has said criminal proceedings against the former premier will be set in motion.

Surasak Threerattrakul, director-general of the Office of the Attorney General, said: "We agree that the case substantiates a criminal indictment charge against Yingluck."

He cited the evidence and witnesses produced by the National Anti-Corruption Committee to press ahead with the criminal charges, which could result in a 10-year jail sentence.

The criminal proceedings alongside the impeachment have sent clear signals that the junta is determined to root out Yingluck's influence in the country.

The popular, yet controversial, rice subsidy scheme introduced by Yingluck is believed to have cost the exchequer billions which, according to critics, were re-routed to her party's coffers.

Yingluck was ousted from office just before the army coup on 22 May last year.

"The military staged a coup to overthrow her, then set up a legislative committee to impeach her. The NLA has been designed to be an anti-Shinawatra unit. Impeaching Yingluck is its main responsibility," Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai political activist at Japan's University of Kyoto, told the Guardian.

Former parliamentary speakers Somsak Kiatsuranon and Nikhom Wairatpanich have escaped impeachment.

Related
Thailand