BANGKOK, May 18 (UPI) -- Some rank-and-file members of the Pheu Thai Party oppose a proposal for blanket amnesty for the May 2010 riots in Thailand.
Deputy Premier Chalerm Yubamrung enthusiastically endorses the proposal, the Bangkok Post reported Saturday. But in the ranks, dissidents say it would include Democrat Party leaders responsible for the bloody crackdown on protesters.
Chalerm plans to introduce a bill that would grant amnesty going back to 2006. That was the year Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is now prime minister, was ousted by a coup while he was out of the country.
Pheu Thai previously called for amnesty only for the rank and file of all parties jailed for political crimes. But Thaksin, who remains in exile, reportedly convinced Chalerm to support total amnesty.
Some in the ranks say the only reason for the proposal is to speed Thaksin's return to the country.
Pheu Thai will hold a commemoration Sunday of the crackdown in May 2010 on its "red shirt" protesters.
