Thai PM:Protests against national reconciliation bill will be well-contained

AUSTRALIA, May 29 (TNA) - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who concludes her four-day official visit to Australia Tuesday, says that the Thai Parliament will debate the national reconciliation bill, set from May 30-June 1, expressing her hope that protests against it would be well-contained and would not affect investors. Yingluck told TNA from Australia that she believed all Thai people would like their nation to progress; so, they should join forces to help maintain confidence in the Thai economy among international investors, urging opponents to the national reconciliation bill to take proper actions. Meanwhile, Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapa said that he has ordered concerned authorities to prevent any confrontation between yellow-shirt and red shirt demonstrators, as the former opposes the national reconciliation bill while the latter support it, and that he has instructed the Royal Thai Police to ensure order and to prevent any siege at the Parliament compound. The red-shirts, aligned with the incumbent Pheu Thai Party-led government and exiled ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, plan to gather in front of the Thai Parliament building; while the yellow shirts, Thaksin's arch opponents, plan to first rally at the nearby Royal Plaza Wednesday afternoon and will later move to the Parliament building. A key opposition Democrat Party MP, Suthep Thaugsuban, insisted that his party oppose to the national reconciliation bill, as it would return a 46-billion-baht sum the Thai Supreme Court had seized from Thaksin and erase the wrongdoing of Thaksin’s supporters and red-shirt protesters. Suthep announced that the opposition to the bill would happen both inside and outside the Thai Parliament building, acknowledging that he would have forums to present facts to people and encourage them to fight against unlawful influences. Suthep, who is a former Democrat deputy premier, confirmed that his fights would not set the country ablaze but would adhere to peaceful means and laws. (TNA)