The Pheu Thai Party backtracked on an earlier announcement that it would add violations of Section 112, or the lese majeste law, to the amnesty bill.
Phumtham Wechayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister, said on Friday that the issue is complicated and needs a public consensus to avoid future chaos.
Mr Phumtham, the deputy leader of Pheu Thai, said the party has not yet reached a conclusion about whether to support a proposal to cover Section 112 in the bill.
This week Somkid Chueakong, a spokesman of the House committee studying amnesty for political prisoners and deputy secretary-general for political affairs to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, said the proposal to have Section 112 offences covered by the bill is favoured by several committee members. He insisted that Pheu Thai never said it was opposed to the idea of including Section 112 offences in the amnesty bill.
Mr Phumtham said on Friday that the party would listen to the needs of the people. If every concerned party agreed to grant amnesty to those who violated 112, things would be easier, and the party would move in that direction.
When asked about criticism that the amendment might benefit former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has recently been indicted on a lese majeste offence, Mr Phumtham brushed aside the criticism, saying he did not pay attention to such a claim.
"Today, we do not object to or deny the proposal. I believe that society knows that this matter has political and social impacts. The government is trying to choose the best way that will not lead to conflict," he said.
On May 29, the attorney general announced Thaksin's indictment on this and other computer crime violations arising from an interview he gave to a newspaper in Seoul on Feb 21, 2015.
He has been ordered to appear at the Office of the Attorney General on June 18, after postponing due to a Covid-19 infection on May 29.
Thaksin has not appeared before the media since that day, although he was spotted visiting a spa shop in the Phloenchit area of Pathumwan district on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Nanthiwat Samart, former deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency, took to Facebook to warn that the move was reminiscent of events leading up to the coup d'etat of May 2014.
The Yingluck administration tried to pass a blanket political amnesty bill in 2013, which was suspected of being a means to whitewash Thaksin, who was in self-exile then. The bill ignited huge protests led by the People's Democratic Reform Committee, which culminated in the ouster of the Pheu Thai-led administration, said Mr Nanthiwat.