In a Turnaround, Thai Government Promises Amnesty Bill Will Die

November 6, 2013, 9:08 PM

In a Turnaround, Thai Government Promises Amnesty Bill Will Die

WARANGKANA CHOMCHUEN

BANGKOK – Thailand’s government rushed to reaffirm that it would kill a contentious amnesty bill that would absolve former leader Thaksin Shinawatra of criminal charges, as protests against the bill and skepticism over its fate continue unabated on Wednesday. A lawmaker from the ruling Pheu Thai Party first proposed the bill back in August, but on Wednesday the party officially announced that it would not revive it if it’s turned down, as expected, by the country’s Senate in a meeting scheduled for next week.The lower house of parliament passed the bill in a predawn session last Friday, prompting various political and civil groups to stage mass rallies in several locations in the capital.

“If the Senate rejects the amnesty bill and sends it back to lower house, the Pheu Thai Party wants to confirm that its party members will not revive the bill,” Phumtham Vejjayachai, the party’s secretary-general, told reporters at a press conference.

On Tuesday, the leader of the country’s Senate said it would reject the bill during next week’s scheduled debate. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Mr. Thaksin’s younger sister, then signaled a retreat, saying in a nationally-televised address on Tuesday that the government would accept the Senate’s decision.

Despite those indications that the bill is destined to die, street protests against it remained in full swing on Wednesday.  Opponents of the bill have widely debated whether they can trust the government, which is dominated by Pheu Thai, Mr. Thaksin’s former Thai Rak Thai Party.

There remains much uncertainty, for instance, over what will happen to the bill if it is rejected by the Senate. By law, the House can still reconsider the bill 180 days after the Senate rejects it. After its reconsideration, the House can then vote to pass the bill, and, this time, it would no longer need the Senate’s stamp of approval for the bill to become law.

Mr. Phumtham assured citizens on Wednesday, however, that the bill would not be resuscitated.

“We will drop it,” he said. “Pheu Thai [lawmakers] promise that we will not propose and approve any law that will create a conflict in society.”

Mr. Phumtham also said the party will ask its members to withdraw all other amnesty proposals that they had planned to submit to the House.

The controversial amnesty bill was originally aimed to exonerate those who were accused of politically-related offences following the 2006 military coup that toppled Mr. Thaksin. Once it was accepted by the House, however, the bill was amended to extend amnesty coverage far and beyond its original intention.

The current version of the bill would, in effect, void a corruption conviction and other charges against Mr. Thaksin, and allow him to freely return to Thailand from Dubai, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since 2008.

The amendment also would exonerated other key political figures, such as former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who state prosecutors charged with murder on October 28 for authorizing security forces to use live ammunition to quell pro-Thaksin protests in 2010 that led to the deaths of more than 90 people. Mr. Abhisit has denied the charges.

Debate over the amnesty bill prompted tens of thousands of Thais to protest on the streets of Bangkok starting last Friday, rekindling fears that Thailand was on the brink of further violent upheaval.