Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand if the opposition Pheu Thai Party wins a landslide election victory and forms a one-party government, according to a satellite-based television station run by his family.

If Pheu Thai forms a government, legislation to grant amnesty to people banned from politics will be “urgently tabled and reconciliatory bids will be streamlined”, Voice TV quoted a party source as saying.

Thaksin, whose government was overthrown in the 2006 military coup, is on the run from a prison sentence for conflict of interest. He said the Supreme Court ruling against him was “politically motivated” and backed a signature campaign by his supporters seeking a royal pardon.

The Nation