Commenting on the recent Thai political protests, SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan said that the red-shirts and yellow-shirts are both against the amnesty bill that the Yingluck government tried to pass, but for different reasons. The red-shirts do not want the bill to be passed because former premier Abhisit will be pardoned and this would negate the sacrifices they made previously for Yingluck’s government. On the other hand, the yellow-shirts oppose it because former premier Thaksin, who is Yingluck’s brother, will be pardoned and can then return to Thailand to assume a politician role. Associate Prof Tan added that as Yingluck’s party has a majority in the House of Representatives, she could force the bill to be passed. The question is whether she is willing to do it for Thaksin. If she does so, she can dissolve Parliament in the second half of next year and call for fresh elections. Another possibility is for her to pass the bill and then step down. But it is unlikely that this alone will appease the yellow-shirts.