MP backs postponing debate on reconciliation bill
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A Pheu Thai MP who is also a red-shirt leader said yesterday that he fully supported the plan to postpone House debate on the controversial reconciliation bills for the sake of government stability.
Natthawut Saikua said all sides involved had to achieve a common understanding about reconciliation before the bills are debated upon.
“There will be no reconciliation, just ill will. The government should be careful about making further moves on the bills. They should avoid giving the opposing side any chance to harm them,” Natthawut said, adding that the House of Representatives should first debate other bills tabled for deliberation.
Last month, opposition Democrat MPs launched an aggressive protest when government MPs started pushing for the four reconciliation bills to be put up for immediate deliberation.
House Speaker Somsak Kiart-suranond, however, decided to postpone deliberation on the bills before Parliament recessed last week, and on Thursday, he suggested that they should be withdrawn to reduce the mounting political tension. The bills are awaiting their first reading when Parliament reopens on August 1.
Opponents of the bills say the general amnesty meant for everybody involved in political conflict since 2005 is intended to whitewash the wrongdoings of fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra and his cohorts involved in criminal offences over recent years, including the 2010 unrest that left 91 people dead.
Natthawut said yesterday that he expected the government to face a “tough battle” in August, adding that the Constitution Court’s verdict on charter amendment bills in July would be key to the government’s health.
The court is meant to rule on whether proponents of the government-sponsored charter amendment bills are attempting to overthrow the country’s democratic regime in order to rewrite the current Constitution, which would allow for the drafting of a brand-new one.
Natthawut and other red-shirt MPs presented this bill after three other bills on reconciliation had been submitted, including one by General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, leader of the 2006 coup who is now chairman of the ad hoc House committee for national reconciliation.
Sonthi, who is leader of the Matubhum Party, said yesterday that he had discussed the issue with Somsak but they had not spoken about pulling out the bill.
“I do not see this bill as a factor for conflict, because the focus is on amending the charter. I might withdraw my bill because there are several others proposed by government MPs,” he said.
Meanwhile, chief coalition whip Udomdej Ratanasathien said government whips would meet next week to discuss whether the reconciliation bills should be withdrawn.
Senior figures from the Democrat Party yesterday expressed support for Somsak’s call for the bills to be withdrawn, and opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanavisit said this would help defuse political tension.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the House Speaker should take it upon himself to talk the proponents into withdrawing their bills.
Chumpol Silapa-archa, leader of the coalition Chart Thai Pattana Party, agreed that this was not the right time for government MPs to push for the reconciliation bill, adding that the matter should be discussed further in the form of a public forum.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yingluck Shina-watra refused to comment on the Speaker’s call for withdrawal of the reconciliation bills, adding that the matter should be discussed in the House.
