Former premier Anand Panyarachun yesterday affirmed that national reform was a different matter from reconciliation, whilst former attorney-general Kanit na Nakorn sought Cabinet approval to extend the period for recruiting members of the independent fact-finding committee for national reconciliation.
He said he would consult with respected scholar Prawase Wasi, who chairs the assembly for national reform, to ensure their work was headed in the same direction.
He said he and Prawase shared the opinion that national reform and reconciliation were two different matters, as the former was intended to lay the foundation for the country's future while the latter was for the government to undertake.
Anand said he should be able to complete by early next month the make-up of the 15-20 national reform committee members from groups such as academics and civic society.
Affirming that his panel would formulate the strategies for national reform in an independent manner and submit the resulting report to the government, he said it was then up to the government to decide whether it wanted to implement the strategies.
Strategy-setting is not supposed to benefit any particular administration, he stressed.
Meanwhile, a source at yesterday's Cabinet meeting reported that Kanit had written to Abhisit requesting another 15 days for the establishment of the independent fact-finding committee for national reconciliation's duties and responsibilities, and for the recruitment of panel members.
Abhisit signed a letter appointing the committee on June 8 and required the two tasks to be completed within 15 days, namely today.
Envisioning a truth and reconciliation commission much as those used in other countries with political conflicts leading to violence, Kanit said the committee's duties and responsibilities would go beyond fact-finding about the recent political unrest.
He said he therefore needed to consult many sides as this complicated matter involved many stakeholders.
The recruitment of committee members was also important, he added, and directly affected the overall mission's success. It therefore requires thorough consideration and consultation with many sides. After getting the optimum outcome as regards committee formation and candidates, he would then be able to propose the list of panel members, he said.
For these reasons, he said, he needed another 15 days, even though he understood the public demand for the committee to make progress as soon as possible.