Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2013 12:55:16 GMT 7
ANTI-THAKSIN CAMPAIGN
Plan for huge rally against amnesty bill
The Nation October 21, 2013 1:00 am
Representatives from various civic groups announced their shared stance against any move to whitewash former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday. Present at the press conference were several familiar faces including Somkiat Pongpaiboon, Suriyasai
Representatives from various civic groups announced their shared stance against any move to whitewash former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday. Present at the press conference were several familiar faces including Somkiat Pongpaiboon, Suriyasai
Civic groups and others angry over 'move to let ex-premier Thaksin off the hook'
A massive rally is apparently in the making now as several groups have expressed the shared goal of fighting any move to "whitewash" former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to the bitter end.
The Democrat Party has also reaffirmed its plan to take to the streets if it fails to block the amnesty law in the Parliament.
"We have never changed our stance. It's our duty to fight against the amnesty law," the party's leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday.
Democrat MP Nipit Intarasombat also urged opponents of the amnesty bill to start coming together, saying on his Facebook page that the bill's third reading would happen very soon.
Last Friday, the House ad-hoc committee for the amnesty bill caused a stir when it voted to include people facing legal action in cases stemming from post-2006 coup investigations among those who would benefit from the law.
Initially, the bill sought to pardon only political demonstrators.
"Thaksin won't be the only beneficiary," the committee's chairman and Pheu Thai MP Samart Kaewmechai said yesterday. "We don't mention the return of his assets either."
Still, Abhisit commented that the change to the core of the bill showed an intention to favour ousted prime minister Thaksin and his cronies.
Two years after the 2006 military coup removed Thaksin from power, he was found guilty of abuse of authority. The former premier fled overseas just before the ruling was announced and now lives in self-imposed exile to avoid a two-year jail term but assets of Bt46 billion were confiscated in a later ruling in early 2010.
Abhisit said if the amnesty bill sailed through and took effect, Thaksin would definitely try to get back that money. "If he reclaims that amount of money, it means Thai people lose the money to the corrupt," he said.
Abhisit expressed an intention to try to block the amnesty bill in the Parliament, where the government has a comfortable majority, and to also ask the Constitutional Court to block the bill - before going all out with a protest on the streets.
Meanwhile, the People's Assembly Reform Thailand (PART) convened a meeting yesterday with various civic groups to discuss several developments and address their concerns, especially about the apparent move to issue a blanket amnesty.
Most had the opinion that a blanket amnesty would effectively let Thaksin off the hook, as it was likely to undermine the legal basis under which he was convicted.
"If some Democrat MPs would like to join our activities, they can do so under their own name," PART chairman Somkiat Pongpaiboon said.
He said the PART local leaders from 77 provinces would have a meeting on October 27 to plan their big move.
"Anyone who wishes to join us can come forward," Somkiat said.
Green Politics co-ordinator Suriyasai Katasila showed up alongside Somkiat yesterday. "We have shared the stance against the issuing of an amnesty for Thaksin," he said.
Nitithorn Lamlua, an adviser to the Network of Students and People for Thailand's Reform, said the network was willing to join the protest against the amnesty bill. "We have seen the amnesty bill as the step towards dictatorship, [and] an infringement on the judiciary."
The network is leading an anti-government rally at the Urupong Intersection. Thaksin is seen by many as the de facto head of the current government, which is led by his younger sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
General Preecha Iamsuphan, a leader of the People's Army Against the Thaksin Regime, called on people to come forward and stop Thaksin's regime from taking over Thailand.
Nipit believed the Parliament would start the third reading of the amnesty bill on November 6, the day he believed opponents of the bill should start a massive rally.
Some red shirts are also unhappy with the amnesty bill, because they wanted those behind the bloody dispersal of red-shirt demonstrators in 2010 to face justice.
Meanwhile, most people see that the amnesty bill, which is being vetted by a special House panel, would become a cause of political violence, a survey by Abac Poll of Assumption University has found.
Abac Poll said 80.3 per cent of respondents said yes when asked whether they think the bill was be a cause of political violence, while 19.7 per cent did not think so. The survey was conducted from October 15 to 19 among 1,488 respondents.