The National Reform Council (NRC) plans to include four stakeholders in the country's long-running political conflict in new reconciliation talks.
Boonlert Khachayutthadech, spokesman of the NRC's committee on political reform, identified them as the Pheu Thai Party, the Democrat Party, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), and the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC).
The UDD is connected to Pheu Thai while the PDRC has close ties to the Democrat Party, Mr Boonlert said.
NRC member Anek Laothamatas has now been assigned to convene and mediate the reconciliation talks, Mr Boonlert added.
Election Commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, meanwhile, yesterday met the association of deputy district chiefs and apologised to them for critical remarks about their ability to run elections.
He left the comments on his Facebook page, which sparked anger among the association's members.
He likened an NRC proposal to shifting the responsibility of organising elections from the EC to the Interior and Education ministries to "handing over the EC's sword to bandits".
Mr Somchai said he would oppose any attempt to strip the EC of its election oversight powers.
As an independent body, it was better placed to keep elections out of the hands of politicians who might want to meddle in the process for their own ends.
His remarks, however, were seen as criticism of ministry staff, who do much of the heavy lifting in running polls.
After the meeting, which lasted about an hour, Mr Somchai said he did not mean to say that civil servants at the Interior Ministry are bandits.
By "bandits", Mr Somchai said, he was referring to those politicians who might attempt to manipulate civil servants handling the election and exploit them for their own interests.
He also said he was only speculating about the possibility of encountering such a problem and not saying it already existed.
"During our talks [this morning], I apologised to those civil servants for the misleading short message I left, which was picked up by the media. That led to a huge misunderstanding," Mr Somchai said.
The association's representatives who attended the talks, held at the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, agreed to pass on word to other civil servants in the sector about his clarification, Mr Somchai said.
The talks between the two sides were mediated by PM's Office Minister ML Panadda Diskul.
Mr Somchai also admitted the EC has always worked together with the Interior Ministry in organising elections.
From now on, he would leave it to the National Reform Council (NRC) to decide who will be responsible for organising the polls.
Mr Somchai said he was also impressed by the association's proposal to set up village committees to tackle problems surrounding election organisation.
The committees would help ensure fair elections, said Mr Somchai.
The proposal is being drafted and will be sent to the National Legislative Assembly for consideration.