Investigate policy corruption cases

If – and only if – this premise was true, then the party’s insistence that an amnesty bill is crucial to achieving reconciliation would hold water.

But the PTP’s key premise – that the coup is  the root of our divisiveness – goes directly counter to the conclusion of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand, which holds that the share scandal committed by Thaksin was the true root cause. Thaksin was found guilty in four out of five cases of policy corruption, defined by the Supreme Court as the abuse of powers by implementing economic policies that, while in themselves legal and of potential benefit to society and the economy, also aided companies that were owned in part by the policy-maker.

If the Truth for Reconciliation Commission is correct, then it is policy corruption, as implemented by Thaksin, that has caused us to split asunder – and the amnesty will be seen as whitewashing those who should be held accountable for their acts, thus adding fuel to the fire instead of putting it out.

So whether the commission’s analysis of the root causes of our divisiveness is correct is key to finding a way to reconciliation. Society should scrutinise the court proceedings to see whether or not its verdicts were justified. The PTP should welcome a thorough, public examination of the cases, for if Thaksin was innocent, then the need for amnesty in his case would be obvious.

Thaksin’s policy corruption cases should be thoroughly debated by governmental and non-governmental bodies alike, including faculties of law, the Law Society of Thailand, and learned guests of talk show hosts, until third-party public opinion polls show a clear consensus one way or another, after which the way ahead will be much clearer than now. As Thomas Paine noted, “Such is the irresistible nature of truth that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.”

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok