Thaksin's amnesty bill won't bring reconciliation
If the amnesty bill is passed, it will provide a precedent in law for future administrations.
It will allow anybody to raise an armed mob to occupy the streets of Bangkok. It will allow the army or police to kill peaceful protestors (of course there is the precedent of Tak Bai to allow that). The armed mob may destroy anything they care to. It will allow hooligans to attack meetings with their Asean neighbours et al.
It will allow a prime minister to sell of any government land to his missus and promote the value of his or his family shares to unprecedented limits. It will allow somebody to run the country from abroad and order any violence without penalty (of course that is already allowable according to the outgoing Attorney General).
If democratic principles are to be used they have to take into account the wishes of minorities. These include dead people’s relatives, the taxpayers and all of judges, who will need redeployment. Reconciliation is promised by the minister as a result of the bill. None of this group is going to be reconciled
RICHARD BOWLER
Bangkok
