Amnesty for those prosecuted over their roles in political gatherings between 2005 and 2014 has been proposed for inclusion in the new charter in a bid to promote national reconciliation, an informed source says.
The Constitution Drafting Committee's (CDC) 10th subcommittee on reform and reconciliation, chaired by National Reform Council member Anek Laothamatas, has proposed two amnesty options.
The first option is a blanket amnesty and the other is a partial one that excludes those facing homicide and lese majeste charges, the source said.
Unlike the blanket amnesty option, the other will not include those people whose actions violated the Criminal Code resulting in another person's death and those who broke Section 112 of the same Criminal Code for lese majeste acts, said the source.
However, it is still unclear whether the amnesty clause, if endorsed, will cover ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was sentenced to two years in jail by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions in 2008 after being found guilty of a conflict of interest in the Ratchadaphisek land deal.
Suriyasai Katasila, leader of the Green Politics group, a former core leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), said he did not oppose the subcommittee's amnesty proposals.
But Mr Suriyasai said it was unnecessary for the subcommittee to include the amnesty in the new charter because it can be introduced in the form of a law.
It is important to categorise those who may be covered by the amnesty bid according to the nature of their misconduct before deciding which group would or would not be entitled to receive amnesty, Mr Suriyasai said.
"It's also crucial to have in place more mechanisms to prove the facts of possible amnesty cases, in addition to the police and the Department of Special Investigation which don't have enough public trust," he said.
CDC spokesman Khamnoon Sithisamarn shared the same view, requesting that the subcommittee clearly set the scope to be covered by the amnesty.
He said that the CDC has officially received the subcommittee's recommendation. Besides the amnesty proposal, the subcommittee also recommended that a panel be set up to find ways to end divisions among people holding different political views and promote unity in the nation.
The National Human Rights Commission, the Lawyers Council of Thailand and public prosecutors may have to take part in the process of proving who was involved in past political violence, Mr Suriyasai said.
Nitithorn Lamlua, a lawyer representing the PAD, the group which rallied to oust Thaksin back in 2006, pointed out that the case in which Thaksin was found guilty would not be covered by this new amnesty bid because it happened before 2005, even though the court actually ruled on it in 2008.
Also not covered by the amnesty would be the case in which former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was accused of murder in connection with crackdowns on red-shirt anti-government protesters in street violence in Bangkok in 2010, Mr Nitithorn said.
The court has already dismissed this case.
The amnesty process must meet international standards and include public forums as part of the process in a bid to promote public understanding and acceptance towards the amnesty move, said the source.
The subcommittee also proposed to dissolve the National Reconciliation Promotion Committee that was set up in 2007, and replace it with a new body called the National Harmony Promotion Committee that will be formed as an organisation under parliament.
The new body will have a similar organisational structure and budgetary management format as the King Prajadhipok's Institute, said the same source.
The new committee will operate for between five and 10 years and comprise 15 members from three sides — two sides involved in the country's political conflict and another that is trusted by the first two, said the source.
Each side will select and nominate five representatives to sit on the new committee, which will have authority to study ways to end the political conflict.