PM: Review links with those who use violence, break laws
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that political parties participating in the reconciliation efforts should refrain from unlawful activities or acts of violence because they are against the principles of democracy.
He has asked the opposition Pheu Thai Party, which is seeking to reconcile three months after political turmoil tore the country, to "clearly identify their relationship with the group that rejects rules and resorts to violence".
However, Abhisit did not identify this "group" as the red-shirt movement, whose 10-week-long rally in Bangkok resulted in more than 80 deaths.
"If the Pheu Thai Party wants to exchange views and work on this [reconciliation], then they should be clear about their relationship with the people who are moving in other directions," the prime minister said.
He explained that people who rejected rules and resorted to violence had caused the recent crisis, and if the turmoil was not politically motivated, then it would never have expanded.
"We expect Pheu Thai to prevent politics from being used as a tool to create violence. That would be a good beginning," Abhisit said.
"We should first clarify that all political parties taking part in the process of bringing normalcy back to the country should not allow anything that is unlawful, violent or against the principle of democracy," he added.
After a party meeting yesterday, Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said most participants had agreed to the five-point reconciliation proposal by deputy leader Plodprasop Suraswadi. He said the party's executive committee had endorsed the plan and party MPs had voted to support it in principle.
The spokesman said Pheu Thai had already decided who would join the reconciliation talks, and one of them was party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit. "We are waiting for the government to set a date for the talks," he said.
Earlier yesterday, Pheu Thai MPs from the North and Northeast attacked Plodprasop for unveiling the reconciliation proposal "too soon", a party source revealed. The MPs said at the meeting that this move had caused a misunderstanding among their red-shirt constituents, who believe Pheu Thai should not have relented to the government. Plodprasop apologised, saying that he had acted out of good intentions.
Meanwhile, Chart Thai Pattana chief adviser Banharn Silapa-Archa said: "I always said reconciliation is impossible, not in this lifetime. In fact, I can't say if reconciliation can really occur. For that you need someone like Nelson Mandela. If they study his formula, then we can come to an understanding. Unless all sides compromise, how can they reconcile? That's too hard."
The Puea Pandin Party yesterday appointed a committee led by Kittiwattana Jayant Pocmontri to consider the issue of national reconciliation. Another committee was also put in charge of Constitution amendment, spokesman Alongkot Maneekart said, adding that no violators of law would be spared or given amnesty under the reconciliation.