No sign of respite for lese majeste offenders, govt stance shows

Most political parties, except opposition leader Move Forward, are likely to oppose including Article 112 violation in the offences eligible for pardon under a proposed amnesty bill.

According to a survey conducted by The Nation’s Political Desk, most parties have clearly said they will not back the granting of pardon to lese majeste offenders.

Even the ruling Pheu Thai Party is reluctant to include the violation of the Criminal Code’s Article 112 as an offence that can be absolved.

The party clearly fears political backlash and accusations of conflict of interest because its patriarch, former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, is also facing a lese majeste charge.

Last week, a special House committee studying details on drafting an amnesty bill for political offenders completed its study but left the lese majeste issue open for the House to decide.

The panel’s chairman, Pheu Thai party-list MP Chusak Sirinil, said the panel agreed that amnesty should be granted retroactively to political offenders from 2005.

It also agreed that those convicted of murders of civilians or officials in their political crimes should not be eligible for amnesty.

Chusak added that the panel had left it to the House to decide whether the bill should or should not include lese majeste offenders.
So far, Move Forward is the only party that is pushing for lese majeste violators to be pardoned.

However, political observers believe the party is not likely to go too far with this as it will possibly be dissolved by the Constitutional Court for promising to amend Article 112 when campaigning for votes. And after dissolution, it is very unlikely that the new party Move Forward MPs join will dare to support the absolution of lese majeste offenders.

Key coalition partner, Bhumjaithai Party, has made it very clear that it will not support amnesty for lese majeste violators, while the Palang Pracharath Party has even threatened to pull out of the coalition if the government considers amnesty for them.

The United Thai Nation Party, another coalition partner, is also unlikely to support absolving lese majeste offenders as it is seen as a rightist party.

Meanwhile, coalition partner Prachachart Party has not clarified its stance, while Chart Thai Pattana Party is expected to toe the line and not support absolving lese majeste offenders either.