Senate to deliberate amnesty bill Friday: Abhisit
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The blanket amnesty bill will be deliberated in a first reading by the Senate on Friday, opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday.
He said he had heard that the Senate would pick up the bill deliberation on Friday instead of waiting for Monday as the Senate speaker has earlier announced.
He said that people could not trust either the Senate or the government although Senate Speaker Nikom Waiyaratpanit had vowed to reject the blanket amnesty bill after the Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has sent signals to the Senate to do that.
The rejection was just a government ploy to prevent protests from escalating because the government could reaffirm the draft’s passage after six months, Abhisit said.
“People should know that if the Senate rejects the bill, the House can wait 180 days to pass it again,” Abhisit said.
“Last night, some Pheu Thai MPs announced to the red shirts on the Chatuchak Market rally stage that they would try to push the amnesty bill.”
Abhisit also called on the government to issue an official announcement that it would reject all pending drafts of amnesty bills.
“Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung clearly has an intention to present two new versions of the amnesty bill. The government should be clear about its stand that it will not pick six amnesty drafts which are in the House to consider again,” Abhisit said.
