Dems decry hidden agenda

Dems decry hidden agenda

Abhisit wants stress on unity, not Thaksin

The government should move beyond its hidden agenda to whitewash ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and focus instead on bringing about national reconciliation, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva says.

The Democrat Party leader said yesterday he believed most people in the country expect to see the Pheu Thai Party-led government get serious on resolving the key problems facing the nation.

"The best New Year gift the government could give the public is to defuse the conflicts surrounding the Thaksin issues, including its attempts to rewrite the charter and pass the unity bill to help him," Mr Abhisit said in a New Year address.

His party was satisfied with the role it had played in opposition over the past year by divulging information that prevented the government's attempts to pass laws which could have caused damage to the country, he said.

Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal said he was aware some people thought Thaksin wanted to return home from living in exile abroad, and that the government was doing all it could to help him.

However, Mr Pongsak denied this was the case.

"This is only the belief of some groups of people who are unable to move beyond Thaksin," he said.

He said he believes Thaksin is now happy to live away from his home country after a period of adjustment.

If Thaksin returned he would overshadow his sister Yingluck, and the ousted leader would not want to see this happen, Mr Pongsak said.

The minister said all sides should follow the recommendation of Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, who on Dec 27 called for bickering parties to take one step back from confrontation to avoid exacerbating the conflict.

Gen Prem said he prefers to regard the social divisions in society as mere "differences of opinion" which can be overcome if people listen to each other.

Pheu Thai MP for Chiang Rai, Samart Kaewmeechai, a former member of the government's panel to study the possibility of amending Section 291 of the constitution, said the government will have to be careful as it makes its decision on changing the charter.

Three options are open to the government, he said.

One option is to go ahead with the vote on the third and final reading of the constitutional amendment bill that is stalled before parliament.

The alternatives are to amend the charter section by section instead of rewriting it entirely, or to call a referendum asking the public to decide if they want the government to move ahead with the charter rewrite bid.

Bhumjaithai Party leader Anutin Charnvirakul said his party has resolved to support the government if it goes ahead with the third and final reading of the amendment bill. It will reserve judgement on the referendum until it has seen the wording.

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