Bangkok: Thailand’s lower house of parliament on Friday passed a controversial political amnesty bill that could pave the way for former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to return from self-exile, triggering protests by opposition parties.
MPs voted 310-0 to pass the legislation early this morning, with four abstentions. The bill now needs to be passed by the upper house to become law. Four lawmakers of Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party abstained despite the party earlier issuing a resolution ordering all its MPs to vote for the bill.
The opposition has been against the bill as it sees it as a way for Shinawatra, brother of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, to return to Bangkok from his self-imposed exile without any charges being pressed against him.
Government whip Amnuay Khangpha said the opposition Democrat Party refused to take part in the vote, which was held after about 19 hours of debate. “The bill will now be submitted to the Senate,” he said. Last evening, thousands of protestors gathered in Bangkok and shouted slogans against the bill. In 2010, mass rallies by the Red Shirts against the previous government ended with more than 90 people killed and nearly 1,900 wounded in street clashes and a military crackdown.
The House took about 19 hours to complete the second and third readings of the bill. Amnuay said the ruling coalition needed to rush the bill through the third reading because the government expected that protesters would besiege parliament later on Friday to prevent MPs from entering the compound to vote.
Shinawatra, a business tycoon turned politician, was ousted in a military coup in 2006 while he was visiting the US to attend the UN General Assembly. In October 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that Shinawatra – who was out of the country – had abused his power as the premier to help his wife buy public land at an auction and sentenced him to two years in jail. (PTI)
