Coalition parties agree to drop amnesty bill

BANGKOK, November 9 (TNA) - The Thai government's coalition parties have agreed to drop the controversial amnesty bill for the sake of national peace. Core leaders of Thailand's political parties in the coalition government, including those of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, the Chart Thai Pattana Party, the Chart Pattana Party and the Palangchon Party, inked the agreement on Saturday during their over two-hour meeting and then announced the deal in a joint press conference in Bangkok. The coalition parties' core leaders, including the Pheu Thai Party's leader Charupong Ruangsuwan , who is also Interior Minister, told the public that the coalition parties have agreed not to reconsider the amnesty bill, but to let it drop out if the Senate votes against the draft bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives on November 1, 2013. Core senators have vowed to vote against the controversial amnesty bill at a Senate session, postponed to, probably, November 11, from November 8 due to the lack of quorum. The agreement was made amid nationwide rallies against the amnesty bill, including the main opposition Democrat Party and academics. Meanwhile, Anusorn Iamsa-ard, Deputy Spokesman of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, said the problem of the draft amnesty bill is now over, calling on people joining a mass rally at the Democracy Monument in the capital, led by the Democrat Party, to return home. Democrat Party Secretary-General Suthep Thaugsuban, however, announced at the rally site that he would establish the "people’s court" at 6:00pm next Monday (Bangkok time) to let people decide on the fate of the coalition government. (TNA)