PM's road map most peaceful way to end stand-off, says Democrat MP
Setting the general elections for November 14 obviously means that the House would have to be dissolved between September 15 and 30, but the red shirts still want an official announcement because they need time to wind down their protest, Democrat MP Sirichoke Sopha said yesterday.
"It's just that the red shirts need time to disperse," he said, explaining why protests were persisting despite the red shirts' acceptance of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's road map for reconciliation.
Contrary to speculation, Abhisit offered the road map as a key to overcome the political predicament, not as a means to end the stand-off, Sirichoke said.
Abhisit opted for a peaceful resolution instead of using force because he wants to avoid the loss of life, especially since there is no foolproof way of separating "terrorists" from innocent people being used as human shields to protect the Rajprasong intersection rally site, he said.
According to the road map, six months should be sufficient to ease fractious politics and pave the way for fresh elections, he said.
The reconciliation process will include the possibility of granting amnesty to barred politicians involved in party dissolution cases and debates on this issue would factor in opinions from all sectors of society, he said.
The amnesty, if granted, will only cover political offences, not criminal and graft violations, he said.
For those who believe that the government is giving in to the red shirts, they should understand that fresh elections can only be held after the protesters are dispersed and steps to bring back peace and normalcy are completed, he said.
Under no circumstances will there be any negotiations to help criminal and terrorist suspects elude punishment, he said, confirming the government's unwavering stance.
Chart Thai Pattana Party adviser Somsak Prissanananthakul said it was frivolous and unjustified to keep arguing about the House dissolution date now that the election date has already been fixed.
Meanwhile, red-shirt leader weng Tojirakarn said the next goal for the red shirts would be to help Pheu Thai Party win the next elections. On stage, weng declared that the red shirts would soon hear when the House would be dissolved.
However, he said he did not want the red shirts to see House dissolution as the solution to all political problems, adding that this was only the first step and that the red shirts still had many more missions to complete.
Weng also urged people to vote for the Pheu Thai Party so it has more than 300 elected MPs and can form the government. Once the party commands the majority in Parliament, it can fight against the opposition and bring back the 1997 Constitution, he said.
The red-shirt leader also added that they still had to wait and see if Pheu Thai would actually campaign to bring back the 1997 charter.