Royalists are clearly worried that the petition for Thaksin Shinawatra’s pardon is gaining political substance. They fear that a million signatures supporting Thaksin (or more) would be a dangerous political weapon in the hands of the UDD red shirts.
According to the Bangkok Post (11 July 2009: “Senators ask for clarity on royal pardons” – PPT can only locate this in the print edition and here), a group of anti-Thaksin senators has called on the Office of His Majesty’s Principal Private Secretary to announce how royal pardons can be gained.
Can it be that the law is so opaque that not even lawmakers know how this office operates? Or are they just wanting extra political clout to discourage people from signing?
The extra clout came a day later when Privy Councillor General Pichitr Kulavanijaya was reported in the Bangkok Post (12 July 2009: “Doubts cast on pardon request for Thaksin”) as warning red shirts to “think twice before gathering signatures…”, implying that this procedure was inappropriate.
