Opponents vow bitter battle over bills on reconciliation

Supporters of the bills, including the coup leader who brought down Thaksin’s government in 2006 and red-shirt leaders in the ruling Pheu Thai Party, yesterday defended their drafts, saying the proposed laws would restore peace in the country and they were not aimed at benefiting the ex-leader alone.

Senior Democrat MP Satit Wongnongtaey said yesterday the party would “fight strongly” in Parliament against the bills for “phoney reconciliation”. He vowed to campaign to show the public how such laws would destroy the country’s rule of law and principles of democracy.

“We call on all groups of people who treasure righteousness and do not want wrongdoers to be exonerated to come out and oppose the bills through any lawful means,” Satit said.

He said the Democrat Party would support any campaign against the bills. “We will join hands with all groups that love righteousness. It’s no use to call on the prime minister, the government, or the Pheu Thai Party to withdraw the bills,” he said, adding that PM Yingluck Shinawatra should take responsibility over the matter due to the conflict of interest regarding her brother Thaksin.

Yingluck, commenting from Australia during her official visit, said yesterday any opposition to the bills should be presented under the scope of the law and differences should be discussed in Parliament.

General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, an MP and leader of the Matubhum Party, who submitted one of the four bills as chairman of the House committee on national reconciliation, yesterday insisted he “[had done] the right thing” in order for the country to achieve reconciliation.

Sonthi, who led the 2006 coup when serving as Army chief, said he did not think his bill would lead to a new round of conflict or another military attempt to seize power. “Soldiers have to think carefully. The situation today and on the day I staged the coup is totally different,” he said. He denied his bill was aimed at whitewashing Thaksin’s alleged wrongdoing.

Red-shirt leaders in the ruling party yesterday expressed their backing for a separate reconciliation bill that is slightly different from Sonthi’s.

Pheu Thai MP Kokaew Pikulthong said it was likely the party would support Sonthi’s bill. However, the red-shirt MPs would also back their bill that would exclude perpetrators of terrorism and murder offences from amnesty. He said red-shirt leaders recently told Thaksin that ordinary red shirts disagreed with Sonthi’s bill, which would grant a general amnesty.”

“Supporting Sonthi’s bill means we are turning our friends into foes, and he [Thaksin] understands our point,” Kokaew said, adding he and fellow red-shirt Natthawut Saikua met Thaksin “by chance” in Hong Kong last weekend.

Meanwhile, the People’s Alliance for Democracy plans to hold its rally against the bills at the Royal Plaza, which is not far from the Parliament, this afternoon. Chamlong Srimuang, a PAD leader, yesterday warned that if it takes effect, the law would “damage the country”.

The rival red-shirt movement yesterday decided not to encourage any rally by their supporters outside Parliament in order to avoid any confrontation with the yellow shirts, its spokesman Worawut Wichaidit said.