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By APD Writer Chen Jiabao
**BANGKOK, Sept.28 (APD) -- **Thailand's top legislator said on Thursday that the convicted ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra will not have chance to step back into political arena all her life.
The Royal Gazette published the new law on criminal procedures against political office holders on Thursday, a day after the first woman prime minister of Thailand was sentenced to five years jail term.
The law will come into force on Friday.
Under the new law, a convicted person would now have to launch an appeal in person at the courtroom rather than designate a lawyer to do so.
Meechai Ruchupan who heads the country's Constitution Drafting Committee said that if Yingluck doesn't file the appeal, the verdict on Wednesday is final and she will be legally banned from politics for the rest of her life in accordance with the constitution of 2017."
He added that even though she returns to serve the jail term, her political life will be terminated as she had been sentenced to imprisonment, which disqualifies her from joining an election.
He mentioned that the statute of limitations on her case will never end.
The Supreme Court of Thailand found Yingluck Shinawatra guilty of negligence and sentenced her to five years in prison, a verdict delivered in absentia a month after she fled the country.
The fugitive former prime minister is in Dubai and has promised not to be involved in any political activities, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Thursday.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
