Background[edit]
The government of Yingluck came to power in 2011 elections, in which her Pheu Thai Party won an outright majority. Yingluck is a sister of former prime minister Thaksin, and the Pheu Thai Party is closely aligned with him. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup d'état and is living in self-imposed exile to avoid a 2008 corruption conviction, still commands popular support among most rural Thais and the urban poor. However, he remains a deeply divisive figure and is resented by many among the urban elite and middle class. Protests by his opponents, the "Yellow-shirt" People's Alliance for Democracy, and his supporters, the "Red Shirts" led by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), have often turned violent, especially in May 2010, when over ninety people died during a military crackdown on Red Shirt protesters protesting against Abhisit Vejjajiva's government. On 8 January 2014, Democrat Party leaders Abhisit Vejjajiva and Suthep are due to appear at a court hearing to face murder charges in relation to the deaths that occurred in the 2010 crackdown.[36]
Several amnesty proposals and amendments to the constitution had been debated by the House of Representatives during Yingluck's premiership. Most of these were popularly perceived as benefiting Thaksin, and were opposed by the Democrat Party. In August 2013, the Pheu Thai-majority House approved after first reading a draft bill proposed by Pheu Thai MP and UDD activist Worachai Hema.[37] Street protests leading up to the parliamentary session were held by an anti-Thaksin group calling itself the "People's Democratic Force to Overthrow Thaksinism" (Pefot), as well as by the Democrat Party, but these failed to gain momentum.[38] The amnesty bill was handed over to a 35-member scrutinizing committee, after which it would be returned to the House for second and third readings.
The committee passed a revised draft of the bill on 18 October 2013.[39] The bill, which in its original form was aimed to absolve civilian protesters, but excludes protest and government leaders and the military, was drastically expanded into a "blanket amnesty", covering the period from 2004 to 2013. This would have included the corruption charges against Thaksin, as well as the murder charges made against Abhisit and Suthep.