Thaksin calls for constitutional changes in Thailand

His remarks in Jakarta came less than a week after the Constitutional Court ruled that legislators in Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's governing party could not rewrite the country's constitution.
"I would like to urge everybody in Thailand, especially the Constitutional Court, that Thailand needs to move forward in a democratic manner, not just like this," he said after participating in a seminar on reconciliation in Jakarta.
"This is not good for the country," he said.
The current constitution was drafted in 2007, a year after the Thai military ousted Thaksin.
Thaksin, a former telecoms tycoon, fled Thailand to escape a 2-year sentence after he was convicted of abuse of power in 2008. He now lives in Dubai.
He said Friday's court ruling had nothing to do whether he could return or not.
"It's a question of how we can bring back the constitution that is more democratic," he said.
The Constitutional Court also ruled Friday against a claim that the government of Yingluck, Thaksin's sister, was trying to overthrow the constitutional monarchy with its bid to amend the charter.
The ruling defused fears that the ruling Pheu Thai party could be dissolved and its executives banned from involvement in politics for five years.
Leaders of the so-called red-shirt movement - which demonstrated in Bangkok for two-and-a-half months in 2010, leading to street battles that claimed 91 lives - threatened to the streets again should the court rule against the government.
The court halted the passage of the amendment bill after a simultaneous debate last month on a proposed reconciliation bill.
That bill appeared designed to pave the way for an amnesty for Thaksin, which would allow his return to Thailand without serving his sentence.
Thaksin said he would only return when there was a guarantee that there would be no unrest.
"Definitely I want to go back but I don't want to go back and create more conflict," he said. "I want to go back and help reconcile the country."
He insisted that he was a victim and not part of the problem. "The problem is there's resistance to change among the establishment."