Yingluck defends amnesty bill, urges forgiveness

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra defended on Tuesday a controversial political amnesty bill that has sparked mass anti-government protests.

Opponents fear the legislation would allow fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - Yingluck's brother - to return from self-imposed exile.

Yingluck Shinawatra. Thai prime minister| Agence France-Presse

Yingluck said the amnesty was needed to reunite the country after years of turmoil culminating in a bloody crackdown by the previous government on pro-Thaksin "Red Shirt" protests in 2010 that left dozens of civilians dead.

"Since this government took power, it has focused on reconciliation," she said in a nationally televised address.

"An amnesty is not about forgetting our painful lessons but about learning so it does not happen again to our young generation," she said. "If people learn how to forgive, the country will move forward."

There have been daily demonstrations in Bangkok since parliament began debating the bill last week, seeking to raise pressure on Yingluck's government over the controversial bill.

Seven years after he was toppled by royalist generals in a bloodless coup, Thaksin remains a hugely divisive figure in Thailand.

The former telecoms tycoon lives in Dubai to avoid prison for a corruption conviction imposed in his absence in 2008. He contends the charge was politically motivated.

The bill would grant amnesties to those involved in the sometimes-violent political conflict that has sharply divided the country for almost a decade.

The opposition Democrat Party says the ruling party-proposed legislation is intended to whitewash Thaksin's alleged crimes and allow his return.

"We will keep on fighting against the amnesty bill and pursue those who are corrupt to the fullest, until the bill is doomed and canceled," said Democrat Party lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban, who led a march on Monday.

The amnesty bill was passed by the lower house on Friday and is due to be debated in the Senate next week. Even if the Senate rejects the bill, the lower house can pass the legislation and send it to the king for approval after 180 days.

AFP-Associated Press