Thai government backtracks on amnesty law

Thai government backtracks on amnesty law
Bangkok Post, April 17, 2012

The Pheu Thai-led government will not rush to enact a national reconciliation law, though ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra hopes an improved political atmosphere will allow him to return to Thailand this year.

The law is a major tool to create national reconciliation between supporters and opponents of Thaksin, but the right time for the exiled leader to return is after real reconciliation takes place, Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said yesterday.

Mr Prompong said all of the parties concerned need to agree with the law's contents before it can be enforced this year or the year after.

He does not want Thaksin's return to become a "target" for his opponents to attack.

During his Songkran trip to Cambodia, Thaksin, currently in self-exile to avoid serving a two-year jail term for abuse of power convictions, said he would only return when the atmosphere in the country is safe for him.

The former premier said he wished to come back when it was safe for him to walk around in the streets and not have to ride in "bulletproof cars".

The Pheu Thai Party's latest statement is an about turn from its earlier resolution to push through the reconciliation law without consulting the opposition and the broader public.

After the King Prajadhipok's Institute's (KPI) proposals to end the conflicts among political groups were approved in the Pheu Thai-dominated House on April 6, party leaders expressed their determination to pass a reconciliation law based on them.

Among the proposals are the granting of an amnesty to political offenders and dropping corruption and abuse of power charges against the Thaksin administration by the defunct Assets Scrutiny Committee, set up by the coup-makers who toppled the Thaksin government on Sept 19, 2006.

The suggestions stirred controversy as opposition leaders called the move to quickly pass a law based on these proposals an attempt to whitewash the ex-premier's crimes. They pointed instead to the KPI's recommendation not to rush the reconciliation process.

Mr Prompong said Pheu Thai MPs would ask parliament to consider passing the law during its session in August or September after the cabinet had considered it.

However, he relaxed this timeframe yesterday, saying the cabinet would not issue a decree on national reconciliation because it would be criticised for not listening to other voices.
However, deputy Democrat leader Thaworn Senneam was not convinced by Mr Prompong's words.

He believes the government plans to speed up the process by issuing an "amnesty decree" through a cabinet resolution, rather than trying to pass an amnesty act through parliament.

Such a decree would only require the cabinet's green light for enforcement. Then, Mr Thaworn said, parliament would be told of the new law.

Matubhum Party leader Sonthi Boonyaratglin wants the government to carefully consider its intentions to issue a reconciliation law because of its potential to spark new conflicts.

Gen Sonthi, who led the coup against the Thaksin government in 2006, chairs an ad hoc House panel on national reconciliation, which asked the KPI to study solutions to the conflict between the pro- and anti-Thaksin groups.

Former supreme commander Boonsrang Niampradit said he does not want the government to focus only on political conflicts, but to also take heed of economic, educational and social problems.

If these problems could be resolved, Gen Boonsrang said, the political situation would improve.