Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday dismissed a proposal by an avid supporter of fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra to grant the ex-premier amnesty. Abhisit said he was acting on grounds of principle, and also feared conflicts might not end, as Thaksin could bring more trouble to the country.
Abhisit reasoned that as prime minister he could not make a deal that involved the self-interest of someone at the expense of the country's interest and future.
General Pallop Pinmanee, a member of the opposition Pheu Thai Party, on Thursday said granting amnesty for Thaksin was the only way to prevent political violence, and added that he feared violence would break out by April.
Asked in the end how the conflicts were going to be resolved since he turned down the proposal from Thaksin's camp, Abhisit said: "Thai society has to choose whether to uphold principle or listen to the one proposing the bargain. As prime minister, I am not going to exchange principle and the country's future for that.''
Abhisit admitted that he was concerned about political movements that might turn violent because conflicts and a gap of understanding were still there. He added that his worries subsided when he thought that most people want the country to move forward. "The government must ensure that everything moves ahead and cannot be careless or complacent,'' he said.
Asked if he were ready to talk to Pheu Thai Party chairman General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to close the understanding gap, Abhisit said he was ready to do so but the topic of negotiation must not be about anyone's personal interest. "I do not have the right to exchange the country's interest with that of anyone,'' he said.
Asked to respond to House Speaker Chai Chidchob's proposal for a general amnesty, the prime minister said the country should learn from the lesson of 2008, when lawmakers were pushing for laws that were sensitive and against the wishes of most people in the belief they could achieve their desire since they had majority votes. But they were wrong because the country met with a political impasse.
Asked how the government planned to prevent violence, Abhisit said it would maintain law and order and at the same time respect the constitutional rights of protesters.
"I will not let the country turn into a state of anarchy,'' he said, warning against the use of violence. "No one will gain anything if they resort to violence, because Thai society does not accept such practice,'' he said.
The Democrat Party leader also defended himself against criticism that he failed to resolve conflicts, saying he had shown readiness to bring any problems to the negotiating table - be they the debts of the poor, environmental issues or even political problems.
He cited the move to amend the charter by pushing for the establishment of the Reconciliation Committee for Political Reform and Constitution Amendment, but the opposition had turned down the proposal of the committee.
The prime minister defended the government's failure to arrest or extradite Thaksin, saying the former leader kept travelling and stayed in countries that had no extradition treaty with Thailand, except when he went to Cambodia.
Asked to respond to the criticism that some of his Cabinet members, especially those from other coalition parties, were "untouchable", citing Deputy Public Health Minister Manit Nop-amornbodi as a case in point, Abhisit said Manit had told him that he was going to publicly announce his decision. He would find out why he had not done so.
Manit has been under pressure to quit his post after Witthaya Kaewparadai, who is from the Democrat Party, resigned as public health minister this week to take responsibility after an investigation committee found evidence of irregularities in the ministry's procurement plans under the Bt86-billion Thai Khemkhaeng stimulus package.
The prime minister vowed to solve problems facing the country to the best of his ability, saying the problems were complicated and had accumulated before the September coup 2006 was staged, so they were not easy to untangle.
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