Govt Review To Take More Than Two Months

[webfact]

PARDON PETITION

Govt review to take more than two months

By Piyanart Srivalo,

Naya Jaikawang,

Hassaya Chartmontree

The Nation

Published on August 19, 2009

Millions of signatures need verifying, which will take time: PM

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that he expected the review of the petition for royal pardon filed by supporters of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to take longer than the usual 60 days.

He said most of the time would be required to verify the signatures on the petition, which organisers claimed exceeded 3 million.

Abhisit said he had learned that in normal cases, relevant state agencies spend no longer than 60 days to come up with a suggestion on what action to take with such petitions.

The prime minister said yesterday that, as requested, the government would make recommendations to the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary about what action to take. He also rejected allegations by the red-shirt camp that the government is planning to shoot down the petition.

"I promise that the government will follow usual procedures and adhere to the standard of practice on such petitions," the PM said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said the Justice Ministry would be the primary agency in charge of vetting the petition and that the government review would be based on its report.

"If it is deemed necessary, the ministry will create a special committee to scrutinise the petition," he said, promising that the vetting process will be transparent.

Suthep said the vetting will likely focus on legal issues and follow the prescribed procedures instead of attaching too much priority to secondary issues like checking the petition signers.

The first step is to verify the legality and validity of the petition, not the names of the petitioners, he explained.

He said no deadline had been set for the vetting process, hinting that the job might take a while in order to factor in pertinent legal issues and precedents.

Comments made on the matter by various Cabinet members earlier were personal opinions, he said, and the government will make its stance public once the vetting is completed, he said.

The vetting is expected to commence as soon as the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary forwards the petition for government review, he added. The petition was filed on Monday.

Justice Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga said the validity of the petition was a crucial point to be determined by the vetting process.

Under prescribed procedures, the ministry will designate the Corrections Department, which is responsible for handling convicts, to scrutinise the petition, he said.

"Should the department consider the petition invalid or as having deviated from pertinent provisions, the case will be dropped and no further action will be taken," he said.

The petition is part of the appellate process and the appeal filed on Thaksin's behalf will be treated like any other case, he said.

Director-general of the Corrections Department, Nathee Chitsawang, said it was unprecedented for a pardon petition to be submitted by people not related to the convict.

Nathee said he would have to consult with his ministerial overseers before deciding how to handle the petition.

Red-shirt co-leader Jatuporn Promphan said the government was obliged to review the petition as per the request from the Palace but had no mandate to intercede or prevent it from reaching the attention of His Majesty.

He said the government can review and offer recommendations for the monarch to consider, but it cannot derail the petition. He also warned that the government would face the wrath of 3 million people who had signed the petition should it try to shelve the issue.

He said the total number of signatures collected were not 5 million as previously claimed because organisers had to remove names that could not be verified.

Jatuporn also reminded the government that the red shirts would continue intensifying its opposition movement, with protests designed to hasten House dissolution so the government can be chased out of office.

The red shirts will also aim to overthrow the "ammat" or elite system, which is detrimental to democracy, he said. He was referring to the catchphrase used to attack the Privy Council.

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party MP Surapong Towichakchaikul said he was a distant relative of Thaksin and since he had signed the pardon petition, it should be considered valid. Surapong said his aunt was married to Sathien Shinawatra, one of Thaksin's uncles.

Earlier, the government had said a petition should be signed and submitted by a relative.

He said the petition had also been signed the ex-premier's cousin, Prakit Shinawatra.

Surapong explained that he had kept his blood ties to Thaksin secret for fear that he might be accused of using connections to gain a position in the party.

-- The Nation 2009/08/19

[Bagwan]

Meanwhile, Pheu Thai Party MP Surapong Towichakchaikul said he was a distant relative of Thaksin and since he had signed the pardon petition, it should be considered valid. Surapong said his aunt was married to Sathien Shinawatra, one of Thaksin's uncles.

Surapong explained that he had kept his blood ties to Thaksin secret for fear that he might be accused of using connections to gain a position in the party.

:D

How desperate can you get? A bridge too far for me to cross I'm afraid.

BTW Surapong, have you followed the news this week? We ALL have our ancestral roots in a family from the Rift Valley in East Africa apparently. I do hope that you won't be offended if I deny any blood ties with you - or any of your cohorts.

[brahmburgers]

In typical Thai tradition, the gov't is stalling.

Its spokespeople can't say what they really want to say, because all is wrapped around 'face' ....who stands to gain it and who stands to lose it.

And the worry that there might be more street rioting from the Reds. It's doubtful the Red Shirts will take this scenario to create more mayhem re; a jilted petition of dubious merit.

It's similar to the Cambodian problem with its gov't trying to postpone and stifle the judicial proceedings for former Khmer Rouge, in that the C gov't says the trials should be strictly limited in scope in order to avoid rioting by angry KR sympathizers (which no reasonable person agrees is likely).

[Thailand]

And then we will reject it.

[dale8]

Hello, this is the cooling down period so more riots do not happen in Bangkok. Maybe the government can take this time to educate the Thai people as to what the laws are in amnesty, and Thaksin can pay for more red shirt meetings to gain sympathy while we wait. It is only a political game we must endure, and I hope the Thai people will understand more after this experience. Cheers.

[Aragon]

Perfect......... We will have an answer right at the start of high season. Couldn't pick a better time to announce a decision on this divisive issue. I was hoping that all of this would be over for my November trip. Guess not !!! I can see it now, protesters on the streets again.

Oh and didn't I just read the other day that this petition was dead on arrival.

Hoping for the best, but planning for the worst

[Scott]

Good timing. Stall now, so that things can erupt in the middle of the high tourist season.

[hammered]

2 months the government are working to Thaksin's timetable. Didnt a PTP cadre make some statement about momentous events in October leading to change?

[Jingthing]

I think the alarmists are living in the past. This is the post-Thaksin era. Thaksin's red shirt core, the ones willing to do violence as in Black Songkran, has diminished. The longer the government waits, the more this dying failed immoral movement fades away ...

[Insight]

I think the alarmists are living in the past. This is the post-Thaksin era. Thaksin's red shirt core, the ones willing to do violence as in Black Songkran, has diminished. The longer the government waits, the more this dying failed immoral movement fades away ...

They could always start another petition to request the current petition is handled quickly.

Then Newin's lot could force the entire country at gunpoint* to sign anther petition requesting they take years instead.

(* allegedly)

[Thai at Heart]

I think the alarmists are living in the past. This is the post-Thaksin era. Thaksin's red shirt core, the ones willing to do violence as in Black Songkran, has diminished. The longer the government waits, the more this dying failed immoral movement fades away ...

Oh yeah..... They have definitively put this one to bed then.

Interesting thinking. By showing indecision, they appear to be in control. I mean Thaksin has only been out of the country for a couple of years, and he hasn't been off the front page for more than one day in a row.

Better still, they could hold it off until one day after the next election (if and when that happens). That is sure to put this issue to bed once and for all.

[baht&sold]

Red Shirts threaten mass rally if Thaksin pardon petition presentation delayed

BANGKOK, Aug 18 (TNA) - The anti-government Red Shirt group on Tuesday threatened to mount a mass rally to oust the Democrat-led coalition government if their petition seeking a royal pardon for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is delayed or fails to be submitted to His Majesty the King, but Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva reaffirmed that his government will not intervene in the consideration of the red shirt's petition.

Representatives of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) on Monday presented 500 boxes of collected signatures and their petition seeking a royal pardon for Mr Thaksin to His Majesty the King’s Deputy Principal Private Secretary. The petition was later forwarded to the government for overview and provide a recommendation.

Key UDD leader Jatuporn Prompan said it is customary for the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary to forward the petition to the government.

He said the government cannot delay or deter the submission of the petition to His Majesty. It can do only giving opinions and must forward the petition for His Majesty's consideration immediately.

"If the government delays the petition submission or do anything beyond its duty," said Mr Jatuporn, "The Red Shirts will hold a mass rally to expel the government."

Regarding the decreased number of signatures collected in the petition, Mr Jatuporn explained that the number has reduced from nearly six million names to about 3.5 millions because names are duplicated.

He said the UDD decided to delete the duplicated names to avoid any possible problems and to show that the group's petition is carefully carried out.

The UDD key leader added that the red shirt's legal team is preparing to file a complaint against 29 permanent-secretaries who issued a statement opposing to the UDD petition, claiming that the statement was deemed inappropriate.

Meanwhile, the prime minister affirmed his government will not intervene or obstruct the consideration of ‘Red-Shirt’ petition and that the case, which he has assigned Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban to take care of it, will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.

"I have been informed by the concerned agencies that normally, it takes about 60 days to consider a petition seeking a royal pardon."

Mr Abhisit said due to a huge number of signed names in the UDD petition, it will take more time than the normal one.

In a statement sent to media by email on Tuesday, Mr Thaksin denied he was a fugitive and a corruption charge pressed against him by his post-coup political opponents was unacceptable.

In denial of the country's judicial system, the billionaire-turned-prime minister said the Bangkok land purchase in which he was found guilty of abusing of power had nothing to do with corruption.

Mr Thaksin, ousted in a coup in 2006, was sentenced in absentia last October by a Bangkok court to two years imprisonment for abuse of power by helping his then wife acquiring a parcel of prime Bangkok commercial property at a price far below the market value.

It’s difficult for the country to move forward as the state mechanisms bent on applying the law to destroy their political opponents, the statement said.

“We need to start thinking and act seriously to create national reconciliation before it’s too late. I love Thailand and I’m ready to build harmony,” Mr Thaksin said in the statement. (TNA)

-- TNA 18 Aug 2009

Edited August 19, 2009 by baht&sold