Two days after his surprise call for an amnesty for Thai Rak Thai executives strip-ped of their electoral rights, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin yesterday insisted it was not his idea.

"This idea came from outsiders. In fact the Council for National Security (CNS) chairman has no knowledge about it," said Sonthi.

The CNS chairman's apparent retraction came after a lukewarm response from Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and uproar from supporters of last Wednesday's Constitution Tribunal decision.

That dissolved the former governing party and slapped a five-year electoral-process ban on its 111 executives.

"It's not unusual for some National Legislative Assembly members to be opposed to it, but we can say this idea originated from the NLA," Sonthi said without elaborating.

"For the CNS, this matter is already over," when asked if the junta would follow up the call for a pardon.

He said the CNS made only a proposal and was unsure who had the final say in the matter.

In a television interview on Friday night, Sonthi suggested amnesty for the disbanded party's executives. "If anything at all it's probably a question of whether all 111 executives really committed wrongdoing and whether they're all guilty," he said.

Sonthi explained yesterday he agreed to the amnesty idea on grounds many of the executives were clearly unaware of the offences cited in the electoral-fraud charges.

He added, however, that those to be pardoned should not include Thaksin Shinawatra, the former party leader and ex-prime minister overthrown in last September's coup led by Sonthi.

Of the 111 politicians affected by the ban, there are many who have left Thai Rak Thai since the coup. They are viewed as the potential political face of the CNS in the next House of Representatives, or even the next government.

Observers said the proposal to waive the five-year ban for selected Thai Rak Thai executives has strengthened the view of those who see the case as designed to politically emasculate the popular Thaksin.

"You can't have your cake and eat it. Are these people guilty or not? If you don't think they are guilty why arrange for the long and costly exercise?" Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Campaign for Popular Democracy, said.

Suriyasai yesterday expressed opposition to any amnesty.

He said although it was an act of social reconciliation, amnesty was like "opening the jail door for the inmates". The matter should be considered carefully, he said.

The CNS chief denied any interference with state agencies, in a response to perceptions decisions and moves by those organisations appear to be in line with the stance of the junta.

Meanwhile, Thai Rak Thai politicians yesterday said they would not accept amnesty if it were not clearly stated the punishment had been applied retroactively.

"I won't accept amnesty and I won't bow my head to dictatorship," said Adisorn Piengket, one of the former executives facing the ban.