Pheu Thai 'not seeking to amend Article 112'

The ruling Pheu Thai Party insisted yesterday that it had no plans to seek the amendment of Article 112 of the Penal Code, which is related to lese majeste.

Party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit said Pheu Thai executives and members had unanimously decided that they would not get involved with the campaign to amend the article.

"I can speak in the name of the party, but I can't speak for people who are not members or executives of the party. This is not about us having a policy of seeking an amendment to Article 112 or not. This matter has never been in our heads, we have never thought about it," Yongyuth said.

"I am confident that [most] Thais also have no plans to support the proposal of amending Article 112. But some people have this idea and it's their problem."

Yongyuth holds the posts of deputy prime minister and interior minister.

A group of law experts, going under the name Nitirat (www.enlightened-jurists.com), is campaigning for amendments and changes to Article 112.

Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said yesterday that the party had never thought of seeking an amendment to the Penal Code clause "because it would be of no public benefit", though Nitirat had the right to campaign for it. However, he said, Pheu Thai would seek to amend the post-coup Constitu-tion.

Prompong added that some people were linking the ruling party to the amendment campaign in a move to overthrow the government. He claimed that an old power clique involved in the 2006 coup and a group of politicians were funding the move, which included inciting factory workers to oppose the campaign to amend Article 112. "Arrests will be made soon," he warned.

Meanwhile, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday declined to comment on the amendment campaign, saying that he had already spoken about the matter.

"They should know by now about what should be done and what should not," he said, referring to those in favour of the amendment.

In a separate development, Prompong said yesterday that Pheu Thai would take legal action against the opposition Democrat Party for seeking to impeach Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul over the issuance of a new passport for fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Pheu Thai spokesman said the foreign minister had the authority to grant Thaksin a new passport and that the matter had nothing to do with the prime minister. He said the impeachment motion - filed with the National Anti-Corruption Commission and backed by 145 Democrat MPs - was an attempt to interfere with government affairs and to undermine the prime minister's credibility.