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Editorial: A dangerous sister'€™s love

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, wrongly or naively, assumed that time has come for her government to welcome back elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra

The Jakarta Post
Thu, November 14, 2013

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Editorial: A dangerous sister'€™s love

T

hai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, wrongly or naively, assumed that time has come for her government to welcome back elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra. Her intention to grant amnesty to Thaksin backfired, as evident from the massive protests waged by anti-Thaksin groups and even by many of the former prime minister'€™s supporters.

Yingluck and the country may have to pay dearly for her wrong calculation and over-confidence.

So far the military, which has a long history of ousting democraticaly elected governments, has remained quiet about the political uproar. But knowing their resentment with Thaksin, it is just a matter of time before the army generals use this '€œnational security threat'€ as a pretext to stage a coup.

It would be a nightmare for the whole nation if the military was allowed, again, to kill democracy in the name of security and stability. In 2010, a military crackdown on Thaksin'€™s supporters resulted in 90 protesters being killed.

Thaksin is a divisive figure in Thailand. He is highly popular among farmers and people in the countryside, but he is the public enemy No. 1 for middle class in urban areas, political elites, the military and most importantly, the royal family. He was sentenced to two years in prison for corruption in 2006 and many of the multi-billionaire'€™s assets were seized.

Yingluck'€™s Puea Thai Party backed off from the amnesty bill on Monday, but the main opposition Democrat Party seized the opportunity and gained the momentum to organize a three-day nationwide strike starting Wednesday. The prime minister realized her mistake and called on protesters to back down too.

'€œI would like to ask the people to call off the protests,'€ Yingluck appealed to the nation on Tuesday. '€œI am pleading for [protesters] to have patience. We don'€™t want to see any violence.'€

According to the Associated Press, the original draft of the bill did not extend amnesty to the leaders of either the pro or anti-Thaksin groups, but a House committee in mid-October suddenly changed the bill to include both. The last-minute change led to criticism that it was planned all along to include Thaksin.

Thaksin probably will never be able to return to Thailand again, although he is now a de facto prime minister of Thailand. But when Thaksin is really confident of his innocence, why does he not just confront the justice directly in Bangkok? A very basic question that only Thaksin can answer.

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