by STEVE SCIACCHITANO and JOHN COLE
An audio clip of what purports to be a secretly recorded telephone conversation between former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the present deputy defense minister, Yuthasak Sasiphrapa, posted anonymously on YouTube has caused a stir in the media and among political elites.
In the July 6 clip, the two men discuss a secret way by which Thaksin, convicted of corruption and currently living in self-imposed exile, could secure an amnesty that would allow his return to Thailand without serving a pending two-year jail sentence. A current legislative push for an amnesty has sparked new street protests and opposition resistance that threatens to destabilize the two-year government of Thaksin’s sister and present prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra.
The taped conversation proposes to initiate an amnesty through a military administrative channel that would pave the way for an executive order that could be quickly enacted by Yingluck’s government without parliamentary deliberation. The process would be secretive by design and implemented quickly to avoid the public scrutiny and outcry that could derail the order.
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