Gen Anupong should not waste potential as peace broker

In his radio interview on Saturday, Anupong lamented that he was a victim of attacks from the yellow shirts, the red shirts and the media professionals. Of all his critics, he said he was most disheartened by reporters for their provocative questions designed to politicise the military.

Although his remarks might be construed as an attempt to distance the military from politics, the fact is Anupong and top military leaders are presently integral to the turmoil.

It is admirable to try and keep the soldiers in the barracks and out of politics. But this will happen only after the top brass can disengage themselves from political entanglements.

One way to depoliticise the military is by helping to end the animosity of rival camps. It is not necessarily a bad thing for the military's involvement in politics so long as the generals aim to become a stabilising factor, instead of grabbing power or tipping the power balance.

 The stark reality is that the military has an indispensable role in Thai politics. During the era of half-baked democracy in the 1980s, the armed forces assisted in overcoming the political turbulence in order to bring about a thriving political system.

The present turmoil has its origin in the autocratic regime of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra. The power struggle has brought about social divisions and fractious politics on an unprecedented scale. For better or for worse, the military did the unthinkable by staging a coup to oust Thaksin in 2006.

The generals might have had good intentions to rectify the situation but ended up plunging into the political quagmire. They became players instead of fixers in the turmoil.

Unlike the past, when the political maladies were fixed after the elections, the junta blundered by unwittingly paving the way for the pro-Thaksin camp to secure the election victory in 2008. The maladies intensified instead of dissipating.

The People's Alliance for Democracy led the yellow shirts to resume street protests. Riding on the anti-coup sentiment, the red shirts became a powerful tool of the pro-Thaksin camp.

Last year was like an endless nightmare. Street protests wreaked havoc. Two governments under Samak Sundravej and Somchai Wongsawat collapsed by two judicial decisions.

If the 2006 coup breathed life into the red-shirt crowd, then the military involvement in prodding the Democrat-led coalition alliance in December provided the impetus for the pro-Thaksin camp to grow by leaps and bounds.

It is undeniable that Anupong and his generals have been key players in wielding influence over the turmoil.

It is futile to argue like wild-eyed innocents that the military has no role in the present predicament and that political problems ought to be resolved by politicians alone. If public participation is a welcome factor in the reconciliation process, then the soldiers are vital to foster the fence-mending because they too are Thai citizens.

Even though Anupong did engineer some semblance of political normalcy by pushing for the Democrat-led government, he has yet to tackle the side-effect of his own making - how to pacify the opposition movement, which he fuelled, to pave way for reconciliation.

As mass movements of the red shirts and the yellow shirts have reached a stalemate in which neither side can defeat one another, the momentum for reconciliation has apparently been picking up the pace.

The stumbling block is the opposing camps still cling to their respective ideas for fence-mending. Anupong has an open line of communication to all parties concerned, including Thaksin. Why should he waste his potential as peace broker?

The Army chief has been playing safe but to his surprise, he has been attacked by all sides.

It might be time for him to take on the mantle of leadership to foster reconciliation. He will still face a barrage of attacks although he may achieve something out of his efforts, instead of having verbal abuse hurled at him for nothing.