A group of peace advocates has called on rival political groups to nominate their choice for interim prime minister rather than continue to bicker over legal technicalities.
Red-shirt protesters put on plastic ponchos to keep themselves dry as rain falls on their protest site on Utthayan Road yesterday. The rally is expected to be a protracted one as the political stalemate continues. Pattanapong Hirunard
The group, with members including Gothom Arya of Mahidol University's Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, and Thammasat University political science professor Chaiwat Satha-anand, issued the recommendation yesterday, saying an interim prime minister should be named without invoking Section 7 of the constitution.
The government and red shirts oppose using the use of the section to appoint a premier, and insist the current caretaker government must remain in power until an election is held, as stipulated by Section 181.
The anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and the Democrat Party, on the other hand, favour a "neutral" premier named under Section 7, which would then set up the legal platforms for national reform.
The PDRC insists reform must precede an election.
The peace advocacy group yesterday said any neutral premier must be non-partisan, as that person's principal task will be to govern the country in crisis. They also called for a guarantee that all sides be allowed to participate in the reform process.
The group said Section 7 should not be invoked as it would only fuel the ongoing conflict. The existing legal framework is adequate for appointing a prime minister, it said, stressing that the premier would assume only an interim role to implement reform. At the same time, there must be clear details of the planned reforms, it added.
The details of the planned reform must be released and any incoming government legally bound to implement them before a general election is held, the group said.
It said an interim neutral prime minister can be appointed to head the reform effort without invoking Section 7. This could be done by having the current acting caretaker premier forward the name of an interim prime minister to His Majesty the King for royal endorsement.
The group, however, said selecting the candidate for interim premier would require setting political rivalries aside.
It said groups on both sides of the political divide would need to name their preferred candidates. All stakeholders in the conflict would nominate the person who is acceptable to them.
The candidates must not have shown themselves to be politically affiliated with any particular side, be publicly recognised as honest, and be capable of running a national administration in a time of crisis.