Tida warns against Prem meet

Tida warns against Prem meet

A planned meeting between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, several cabinet ministers and Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda will have negative repercussions, a senior red shirt official warned yesterday.

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United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) chair Tida Tawornseth said there are many red shirts across the country and they were divided over the planned meeting tomorrow.

As an ally of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, the UDD would not oppose the meeting. However, it wants to make clear it is improper, she said.

The government must be held accountable for possible negative repercussions regarding its political support, she warned.

She cited Pheu Thai's major defeat in Sunday's by-election in Pathum Thani, which was considered a party stronghold, as an example.

The UDD chair was reacting to Ms Yingluck's decision to lead a delegation to Gen Prem's Si Sao Thewes residence tomorrow for a traditional Songkran rod nam dam hua ceremony.

Gen Prem has been accused by the red shirts and their leaders of sponsoring the 2006 coup that ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the elder brother of Ms Yingluck.

Ms Tida said red shirts would converge on Ratchaprasong intersection tomorrow to mark what would have been the 27th birthday of Kamolkate Akhad, the nurse who was shot dead in Wat Pathum Wanaram during anti-government protests on May 19, 2010.

Pheu Thai MP for Samut Prakan and red shirt leader Vorachai Hema said the planned meeting with Gen Prem was the government's affair and had nothing to do with national reconciliation.

Most red shirts do not see the meeting as an act of reconciliation as they have fought injustice for over five years and want those behind the killings of many red shirts brought to justice, he said.

Pheu Thai list MP Korkaew Pikulthong, also a red shirt leader, admitted the meeting may upset some groups.

However, the country needs to move forward to bring about national reconciliation, he said.

It is perfectly appropriate for the prime minister and cabinet ministers to call on Gen Prem, who is widely considered a respected senior figure, and wish him a happy Thai New Year, the MP added.

The meeting may warm Gen Prem, who dislikes Ms Yingluck's brother, to the prime minister, said Mr Korkaew. He believed Ms Yingluck could play a major role in mending fences between Gen Prem and Thaksin.

He also insisted red shirt leaders were willing to hold talks with everyone. He said the UDD are not fighting against Gen Prem, but against the ammart (elite) system.

Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong called on those opposed to the meeting to let go of the past in order to let the country move forward.

It is an auspicious occasion for the country's senior figures to meet, he said.

Asked whether the meeting would signal the start of the government's push for national reconciliation, Mr Kittiratt said it was one of the Pheu Thai Party's main campaign pledges and that the prime minister has seriously been pushing for it.

Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the visit tomorrow to Gen Prem was a good start. The meeting was arranged with consent from both sides, he added. He dismissed claims the meeting might have a negative outcome.

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