Amnesty games: a few days can make a big difference

Pheu Thai’s legal experts were split on whether the bill would face problems over a possibly discriminatory provision that might be considered in violation of Article 30 of the Constitution.

The version, originally proposed by MP and red-shirt leader Worachai Hema, would grant amnesty only to ordinary protesters, and not to fugitive ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, protest leaders or the authorities involved in the 2010 crackdown on protesters. 

 

Some legislators said they believed the law would be constitutional. Others said the bill might be amended later. 

 

However, a prominent source from Chart Thai Pattana Party – who asked not to be named – said de facto leader Banharn Silapa-archa insisted that the bill must not be amended by the House vetting panel “because it is an agreement among the coalition parties.” Moreover, for the survival of the government, Pheu Thai must take care of the red shirts, its main supporters, the source said.

 

On October 18, Pheu Thai member Prayuth Siripanich proposed an expansion of the bill’s amnesty coverage to include those accused of wrongdoing by the now-defunct Assets Examination Committee. 

 

The committee was set up after the 2006 coup to investigate alleged irregularities by the Thaksin administration. 

 

A majority of the Pheu Thai-dominated committee voted to support the revised version, which may benefit fugitive ex-PM Thaksin, de facto party leader.

 

Last Tuesday, The Nation’s Opas Boonlom asked Prayuth to clarify his proposal. 

 

Prayuth responded: “The amnesty will not be applied to Thaksin because his legal predicament stemmed from an alleged abuse of power, with no links to political rallies.”

 

Prayuth said his proposal was not aimed at helping Thaksin in particular, and that he had made it on his own without any order from Thaksin, the Prime Minister or Pheu Thai Party. 

 

On the same day, Thaksin told Post Today he supported the new version of the bill as he wanted peace to return to the country. 

 

“I have no problem. I can stay outside [the country] for another 10 years and it is still fine. I am fine. I am used to it. In the past, the first two years [of exile], I might have suffered, but not anymore. I have been [in exile for so long] that I am fine with it,” he said.

 

Banharn agreed to a full amnesty, but not with returning Thaksin’s assets. 

 

On Sunday, however, Prayuth admitted to Somroutai Sapsomboon from The Nation he proposed revising the bill to seek a blanket amnesty as Thaksin had told him he wants to come home.

 

Prayuth said he met Thaksin in Hong Kong several months ago, before he proposed the change to Worachai’s draft.

 

“Once I met him, he said ‘Brother, I want to go home now’. He said just that, and I knew immediately that he would like to return to Thailand through a proper channel. And a channel that can help him return is amnesty. So, it has been on my mind all the time that I must help him come home.” 

 

Prayuth claimed several of Pheu Thai’s key leaders supported him on the revised version of the bill. 

“I can’t do it on my own. It’s a party matter,” he said.

 

Many red-shirt factions have come out and voiced opposition to the blanket amnesty, saying they could not accept that the authorities who ordered the bloody crackdown would get away with it. Instead, they asked the government to assist those detained on charges relating to the violence to get bail.

 

The vetting committee finished deliberating the bill and will submit the draft to the House soon. What comes next remains to be seen.