Govt urged to follow up on Thaksin amnesty
In what seems to be a renewed attempt to seek a royal pardon for fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a pro-red-shirt weekly published an article asking what happened to the petition with 3 million signatures that was submitted two years ago
The article published in the latest edition of Maha Prachachon, which does not include the author's name, calls on Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Justice Minister Pracha Promnok to follow up with the Corrections Department, which oversees the royal pardon process and regulations.
The article also provides background information on the much-publicised red-shirt rally in August 2009, during which the petition was handed over to an official of the Royal Household Bureau at the Grand Palace.
Pheu Thai party-list MP Nattawut Saikua said it was the government's responsibility see the progress and report to the public.
Asked whether he would lead red shirts to "seek an answer" from Yingluck or Pracha, Nattawut said: "If I say yes, then the headlines will say that the red shirts use mob rule to press for their demands."
