Thaksin Shinawatra supporters petition Thai king for amnesty

Aug 17, 2009, 7:20 GMT

   Bangkok - Thousands of supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday submitted a petition to Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej allegedly signed by 6 million people seeking royal amnesty for the fugitive former premier.

   More than 30,000 Thaksin followers, most wearing red T-shirts, showed up at Bangkok's Royal Grounds to deliver the petition asking the king to grant amnesty for a two-year jail term Thaksin has yet to serve.

   Ten representatives of the pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), accompanied by five Buddhist monks, handed the 50 boxes of signatures over to officials of the Royal Household at the Grand Palace.

   The UDD's signature campaign has been criticized by Thai politicians and academics for violating royal etiquette.

   Under Thailand's constitutional monarchy, the king and royal family are not supposed to get involved in politics.

   As head of state, the king has the power to grant amnesties, but it has been argued that Thaksin is not eligible for a reprieve since he has not yet served any of his two-year jail term, living in self-exile instead.

   Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Sunday said the Royal Household is expected to consult the government on the propriety of the petition, shifting the responsibility to the cabinet to decide whether the mass appeal should be passed on to King Bhumibol, 81.

   Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon tuned populist politician who was prime minister between 2001-06, thanked his followers in a phone-in address before they submitted the petition.

   'I, Thaksin Shinawatra, and my family will be loyal to the king and the monarchy forever,' Thaksin said, without addressing complaints that the petition was dragging the institution into Thai politics.

   'I believe the King is upset to see Thailand in this situation of disunity,' Thaksin said.

   Many blame Thaksin as the prime cause of the disunity that has pitted his supporters and opponents against one another.

   Billionaire Thaksin added populist policies to the traditional system of paying for votes and secured himself a huge backing from Thailand's rural and urban poor during his two-term premiership.

   Thaksin used his immense popularity to monopolize politics, undermining many of the independent institutions put in place by a liberal 1997 constitution to maintain a balance of power, in order to push through economic policies that benefited his family and cronies.

   His decision in January 2006 to sell off his family's shares in the Thaksin-founded Shin Corp to Singapore's Temasek Holdings for 2 billions dollars, tax-free, turned the Bangkok middle class and political elite against him, eventually leading to his overthrow by a military coup in September of that year.

   Thaksin has lived abroad for most to the past three years. In October 2008, the Supreme Court for Political Office Holders found him guilty of abuse of power for allowing his wife to successfully bid on a plot of prime Bangkok property in a public auction in 2003.

   He was sentenced to two years in jail. Thaksin claimed the court's sentence was politically motivated, and urged his followers to petition to the king for an amnesty.

   Despite his fugitive status, Thaksin's popularity, especially in the rural areas of northern and north-eastern Thailand, remains strong, where his populist policies benefited the poor and Thaksin's CEO-style rule was appreciated.

   'I want the Thai economy to return to what it was like under Thaksin,' said Maem, a red-shirted Thaksin-supporter from the northern province of Phayao. 'Things were good under Thaksin.'