Unity talks kick off on 'day of love'

Unity talks kick off on 'day of love'

Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, designated Valentine's Day as a 'day of love' for politicians, but was clear the military will not pledge agreement with reconciliation.
Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, designated Valentine's Day as a 'day of love' for politicians, but was clear the military will not pledge agreement with reconciliation.

The government will begin discussions on national reconciliation with politicians on Valentine's Day, with a ministry spokesman saying the timing is to take advantage of the "day of love".

The administration has come up with a set of 10 topics for politicians to contribute ideas regarding how national unity can be achieved.

Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantrawanit announced the plan yesterday following the first meeting of a government committee on national reconciliation chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.

Speaking after chairing the first meeting of the government committee on national reconciliation, Gen Prawit said the unity pact does not need to be signed, but political parties and groups must reach clear conclusions on how to achieve national reconciliation and restore social harmony.

But if some politicians refuse to honour the pact, it is up to the public to decide how to deal with them, he said.

Also, the armed forces will not be part of any agreement. Politicians had earlier demanded the military must be part of reconciliation talks because its May, 2014, coup was at least partly responsible for the current political divisions.

Gen Prawit said that since there will never be another coup, there is no reason for the military to participate directly.

Maj Gen Kongcheep said the meeting marked the start of the process to build unity and extricate the country from its prolonged political conflict.

About 70 political parties registered with the Election Commission will be asked to meet the committee in alphabetical order to contribute ideas on how national reconciliation can be achieved, Maj Gen Kongcheep said.

The Defence Ministry will arrange round-table discussions where military officers talk with 10 representatives from political parties and political groups on weekdays.

The first party will show up on Tuesday, he said.

"We will take advantage of Valentine's Day, the day of love, to begin talks on unity," Maj Gen Kongcheep said.

At the round table, 10 soldiers will discuss the 10 reconciliation-related topics with the 10 representatives from each political party.

Politicians will be asked to provide input on how to solve conflict through peaceful means, and how to address social disparities and injustice, promote unity, solve energy-related disputes, and tackle corruption.

They will also be asked to contribute ideas on national reform and the government's 20-year national strategy.

The talks will extend over three months, after which there would be a draft reconciliation agreement drawn up, the defence spokesman said.

Gen Chaicharn Changmongkol, permanent secretary for defence, will head a sub-committee gathering the opinions, while a sub-committee led by Supreme Commander Surapong Suwanna-at will process and collate the opinions.

A sub-committee headed by army chief Chalermchai Sittisat will draw up proposals on national reconciliation based on those opinions, which would be turned into "a social contract", or unity agreement.

The sub-panel will include several well-known academics such as Somkid Lertpaitoon, president of Thammasat University, and law expert Banjerd Singkhaneti.

The sub-panel led by the army chief must also gather opinions from the public before drawing up proposals. The draft proposals will then go to public hearings that the military will organise in all regions, Maj Gen Kongcheep said.

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