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BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Thursday warned supporters of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra against signing a petition for a royal pardon that might allow him to return from exile abroad.
Backers of the former leader, who fled Thailand last August to escape a two-year jail term for corruption, are trying to gather one million signatures to present to the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
But Abhisit said a royal pardon could be sought only by Thaksin himself, or his relatives, and only once he had served at least part of his sentence. Thaksin was toppled in a military coup in 2006.
"The royal pardon should be his (Thaksin's) own individual initiative or that of his family members and it's not reached that stage because Thaksin has not yet served the sentence," Abhisit told reporters.
"It's not possible for people to sign up to seek a royal pardon," he said, adding that those behind the document were "manipulating innocent people."
"We have to be cautious because these masterminds have complicated matters and people could fall victim to their provocations," he said.
State-owned television is to run a segment with a legal expert late Friday to remind the public that it was improper to involve the monarchy in politics, a government minister said later.
Thaksin said in a March interview that he had written three letters to the king seeking to be allowed home.
The billionaire's so-called "Red Shirt" supporters have said they will rally on Friday night in Bangkok and announce the number of signatures before submitting the petition to the royal household.
They launched the campaign last month following months of sometimes violent street protests and political conflict in Thailand between supporters and foes of Thaksin.
Twice-elected Thaksin still enjoys huge support among Thailand's poor, particularly in rural northern parts of the country, but is hated by the Bangkok-based elites.
Thaksin is currently being tried in absentia on a separate corruption charge relating to US$2.2 billion of funds that were frozen by an anti-graft body soon after the coup.
Thailand's royal family is treated with almost religious adulation and protected by strict defamation laws.
- AFP/yb
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