A small group of protesters yesterday stole the limelight before the National Reform Committee convened its first meeting to discuss the framework of its mission.
Ten protesters from a group calling itself "Network of Social Activists for Democracy", led by Wannakiat Choosuwan, gathered outside Baan Phitsanulok, where members of the committee were to gather.
Wannakiat read out a statement heavily attacking the Anand panel. The statement said that the committee was set up to "buy time" and to act as a government tool in distracting the public attention away from the recent political unrest, in which many people were killed and a thousand others were injured.
The statement said participation in the government-initiated reform efforts was tantamount to supporting the government's legitimacy in the use of force against red-shirt protesters.
The protesters held placards with messages like "90 died and you don't care" and "It's a pity the dead can't reform" while Anand was walking past to enter the premises. The panel's chairman glanced briefly at the protesters but did not show any expression.
Some of the protesters also applied red paint on their clothes and rolled over on the road in front of Baan Phitsanulok, which is the prime minister's official residence.
All but one of the 20 committee members participated in its first meeting yesterday. Only Buddhist monk Phra Paisal Wisalo was absent, due to an earlier arranged appointment. Yesterday's meeting discussed the framework of the committee's mission and mapped out the priorities of its work, according to Anand.
After the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, Anand told reporters that he encouraged all the panel members to "think and express their views loudly".
He said his panel agreed to focus on tackling social inequality and injustice, which the members deemed to be urgent problems. The ex-premier noted that the committee had no administrative power to instruct the relevant state agencies what to do and therefore it would push the government for any legal changes required in addressing the problems more effectively.
Anand said the panel was not in a hurry to set its plans for the middle and longer terms and that at least two more meetings were required to discuss about the plans.
"I allowed all the participants to express their views and offer their arguments. The committee members raised many interesting problems," he told reporters.
The meeting participants yesterday raised problems regarding different issues and different groups of people, such as farmers, according to the panel's secretary, Dejrat Sukkamnerd, who added that one major issue raised was food security. Some participants expressed concern that the number of farmers is fast declining, particularly among the younger people, he said.
Other issues raised by the participants included unfair distribution of state budgets to the rural areas, concentration of landholding within a small group of people, and debt problems, according to the committee's secretary.
The Anand panel will next meet on Tuesday and then next Friday, instead of Monday and Thursday as originally planned, because most committee members are not free on those days. From August onwards, the panel is scheduled to convene twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays.
Sompong Viengchan, a committee member, yesterday called on the general public to support the reform panel in order to ensure success of the efforts. A leader of rural villagers protesting against the Pak Moon Dam, she said she wanted the reform to result in more participation by rural residents in managing the natural resources in their communities.