Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon has slammed a Pheu Thai Party proposal to set up an independent committee to take over the government's efforts to foster national unity.
Pheu Thai issued a statement Thursday criticising a government committee tasked with fostering national reconciliation and its subcommittees, which are made up mostly of military personnel.
The party said these committees are not neutral bodies as they fall under the influence of the leader of the military regime. They should be scrapped and replaced, it added.
Gen Prawait, who heads the government committee on reconciliation, fired back, insisting that all of the already formed groups are impartial.
"The committee members are mature enough and they can think for themselves," Gen Prawit said.
They are composed of experts and specialists who listen to what politicians have to say about reconciliation without argument, he added.
"We only asked about 10 questions but some of the political parties did not bother to answer all of them," Gen Prawit said, insisting the government will not discuss a political amnesty as part of the reconciliation process.
The government began discussing national reconciliation with politicians last month on Valentine's Day. Politicians were invited to contribute ideas on 10 topics.
Some 70 parties will be invited for talks in alphabetical order over a period of three months. A sub-committee led by Gen Chaicharn Changmongkol, permanent secretary for defence, will gather their opinions, after which a draft reconciliation agreement will be drawn up.
Some of the smaller parties have already held talks since Feb 14.
But Pheu Thai appears to be unhappy with the idea of a sub-committee processing and collating recommendations on reconciliation led by Supreme Commander Surapong Suwanna-at. It is also displeased with a sub-committee preparing recommendations for the reconciliation-building process headed by army chief Chalermchai Sittisat.
Pheu Thai called on the government to establish an independent committee whose members come from all sectors. The members should be neutral, fair and accepted by all, it said.
The proposed independent committee will establish the facts and root causes of the political conflict and find ways to solve them, as well as suggest compensation for those affected.
They will also help draw up the reconciliation process using the information from the government sub-committee, which is responsible for gathering opinions and suggestions on how unity can be achieved.
Pheu Thai also said there must be an open channel for academics, the media, public sector organisations and those affected by the conflicts to freely share their opinions.
These views and opinions should be taken seriously and not merely aired for the sake of appearances, the party said.
It also called for care to be taken to avoid any discrimination. All parties should agree on how the reconciliation process is to be conducted based on the values of human dignity, fairness for all, democratic principles and the universal rule of law rather than through suppression by power, it said.
The independent committee should complete its work within a set time-frame and present its recommendations to the public as well as to the Committee for National Administration under the Framework of National Reform, Strategy and Reconciliation, and the government, Pheu Thai said.
Its recommendations should involve all related branches, such as the legislature, administrative agencies and the judiciary, as well as people from all walks of life, according to the party's statement.