Government backs down with amnesty decision
The pressure is off the boiler. On Sunday, Minister Pracha Promnok (Justice) announced that the cabinet's controversial amnesty decision has been amended.
Persons convicted of drug and corruption offenses and/or who are on the run are excluded. This means that Thaksin will not receive an amnesty.
The change was reportedly made at the insistence of Thaksin himself, but Pracha denied that. According to the minister, the decision has been changed following the storm of protests that has arisen. Thaksin said in a letter from Dubai that he does not want preferential treatment. The nation is suffering from floods and is now in need of unity.
'I am ready to sacrifice my own happiness even though I have not received justice for over five years. For the people, I will be patient. […] As His Majesty the King is ill, nobody should do anything that would worry the King. I believe the prime minister shares my stance.'
The People's Alliance for Democracy (Yellowshirts) has canceled its rally at the Council of State building that was scheduled for today.
A November 18-19 National Institute of Development Administration poll of 1.273 individuals found that 46,11 percent of respondents disagreed with the amnesty decision; 30,4 percent supported it and 23,49 percent had no opinion. 44,6 percent believed the decision was aimed at exonerating Thaksin from prison and returning him to Thailand.
[I look forward to Voranai Vanijaka's commentary next Sunday. He has already pointed out that Pheu Thai is constantly releasing trial balloons. The purpose of this balloon was to gauge how much opposition the amnesty for Thaksin would meet, I suspect.]