Erstellt am: 4. 7. 2011 - 16:02 Uhr

Victory wears a red blouse

Yingluck Shinawatra, leader of the red-shirt Puea Thai Party, is set to become Thailand’s first woman prime minister; European Union anti-fraud investigators turn up the heat in the Strasser case.

Thailand’s election

The outcome of sunday's ballot appears to have spawned a new sense of stability in a country plagued by unrest since the ouster of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup five years ago.

apa

Thaksin’s sister Yingluck led the Puea Thai Party to a landslide victory, which the military has accepted. Puea Thai won an estimated 264 seats in the 500 seat parliament and Yingluck has announced her intention to form a five-party coalition that will control about 60 percent of parliament, giving her a strong hand to fulfill her election promises. Chris Cummins finds out more about the significance of the latest developments from our Bangkok correspondent Tony Cheng:

The Strasser Case

The head of OLAF - the European Anti-Fraud Office, Giovanni Kessler, wants a speedy investigation of allegations against the former Austrian MEP Ernst Strasser, who earlier this year was filmed by British journalists offering to influence legislation in the European Parliament in return for cash. But the investigation has already had to deal with difficulties with the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, initially blocking a search of Strasser’s office. An EU state prosecutor would be the answer, says Kessler. Steve Crilley finds out from our ORF correspondent Cornelia Primosch what’s going on in Brussels: