AFTER a lengthy debate the House of Representatives voted down a special committee’s observations on a report on drafting an amnesty bill for political offenders with only the report being sent to the Cabinet for consideration, Naewna newspaper said this evening (Oct. 24).
After the debate concluded at 4.30 p.m. 270 MPs voted to reject the observations while 152 cast yea votes with there being five abstentions and one MP not voting.
Ms. Sasinan Thamnithinan, People’s MP for Bangkok, said she favoured granting amnesty to all political cases with no exception.
The committee had invited leaders of various political groups to voice their opinion on granting amnesty for Section 112 of the Criminal Code cases, or the lese majeste law, and everyone agreed that these suspects and offenders too should benefit from an amnesty,she mentioned, questioning why then do some committee members object to it.
There are thousands of Section 112 cases and while many were dismissed other cases stemmed from political harassment with some suspects having become mentally ill. Lawmakers should be open-minded and give those facing Section 112 charges an opportunity to lead normal lives, she added.
Among the MPs who disagreed with both the report and the observations was Democrat MP Jurin Laksanawisit who said granting amnesty to those who violated Sections 110 and 112 would mean interfering with the justice process and he did not want a major conflict to break out in the country.
Later Mr. Pichet Chueamuangphan, the First Deputy House speaker, asked those who disagree with the observations to propose a motion for a vote to be taken. This led to Dr. Cholanat Srikaew,Pheu Thai MP from Nan, protesting, pointing out that according to House regulation number 105 he should only call a vote and not ask for a motion for this to be done.
He added that if Pichet could not do so then he should be replaced by the Second House Speaker, to which Pichet retorted by telling Cholanan to not point his finger at him. This fiery exchange greatly amused the MPs.
CAPTION:
Top and Front Page: Pheu Thai MP Cholanat Srikaew, left, and First House Speaker Pichet Chueamuangphan. Photo: Naewna
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