OPINION

Let's see action

The idea of national reconciliation has great merit but only if it is genuine and leads to the kind of long-lasting reforms that will achieve much-needed national unity.

Here are a few initial steps the government needs to take immediately to demonstrate that it has a heartfelt commitment to reconciliation:

1. Commit to a meaningful process of democratic constitutional reform, with tight timelines.

The process for reform must be fully inclusive and representative, rather than a drafting committee controlled by government appointees;

2. Commit to free and fair elections immediately after adoption of constitutional reform;

3. Immediately release all of the jailed student protest leaders and drop the charges against them;

4. Do not proceed with the criminal charges against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit and the others in the FFP.

That will only lead to further divisions.

National reconciliation was, of course, something that the 2014 coup-makers promised.

They totally failed to deliver on that.

Instead we had five long years where divisions became more entrenched and they have become even deeper in the past year.

If the government wants to pursue reconciliation, it must show it is genuine.

Actions speak louder than words.

Lesson from history

The current standoff between the demonstrators and the Thai government reminds me of the beginning of the Iranian revolution in 1978. There are similarities (and some major differences) between the two conflicts.

I was teaching at the American School of Isfahan from Sept 1975 until its closure and the evacuation of all of its teachers in January 1979. Just as the Thai students and their sympathisers don't like Gen Prayut, so the Iranians didn't like the Shah. During my entire stay, I never heard a single Iranian say anything positive about him.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a haughty autocrat who lived a sybaritic, un-Islamic lifestyle, as his nemesis, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, constantly pointed out. Khomeini, by contrast, was a scowling ascetic who reputedly subsisted solely on bread and yoghurt, with maybe a raw onion for flavour. The Iranians are Shias, and they like to see austerity in their leaders.

How did they get rid of the Shah? They went on strike. The bazaars were all shut, the markets didn't open, the shops were all closed. Even the TV stations went off the air from 6 to 7 every night, when the government nightly news was broadcast.

How did people eat during their self-imposed lockdown? The whole operation was managed through the local mosques. Every week, at Friday prayers, the mullahs would designate one or two grocery stores in each neighbourhood to remain open to sell essentials to the people on credit.

How can you run a country where nobody goes to work? You can't, and the Shah flew out in defeat about two weeks before we teachers were evacuated. Khomeini flew in about the same time we flew out.

What followed was a government run by the mullahs. I don't know how Iranians feel about it, but I've heard there is now a saying: "Under the Shah we had everything. Now we have nothing." But presumably they now have Islamic purity under the mullahs' rule, which was what they wanted in the first place.

Tread carefully

I understand that police officers are gathering evidence to pursue protesters who gathered outside the German embassy on Monday. If this is a fact and action is taken I hope it will be inclusive of all protesters and not just those deemed to be against the current government. Even handedness is a priority to avoid accusations of unfair treatment.