Background
The government of Yingluck came to power in 2011 elections, in which her Pheu Thai Party won an outright majority. Yingluck is a sister of former prime minister Thaksin, and the Pheu Thai Party is closely aligned with him. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup d'état and is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a 2008 corruption conviction, still commands popular support among most rural Thais and the urban poor. However, he remains a deeply divisive figure and is resented by many among the urban elite and middle class. Protests by his opponents, the "Yellow-shirt" People's Alliance for Democracy, and his supporters, the "Red Shirts" led by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), have often turned violent, especially in May 2010, when over ninety people died during a military crackdown on Red Shirt protestersprotesting against Abhisit Vejjajiva's government. On 8 January 2014, Democrat Party leaders Abhisit Vejjajiva and Suthep are due to appear at a court hearing to face murder charges in relation to the deaths that occurred in the 2010 crackdown.