Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha insisted on Friday that national security should be part of the reconciliation process as he confirmed the nomination of Deputy Defence Minister Chaichan Changmongkol as one of two government representatives on the proposed reconciliation panel.
Chaichan: To give security analysis
Gen Prayut said he nominated Gen Chaichan because he believed the views of security officials should be heard.
He did not expect Gen Chaichan's participation to cause any divisions, saying: "I think we should explain and listen to each other, so a security authority representative should take part."
The PM denied that any changes had been made to the list of government representatives.
It had been reported that the government had named Terdpong Chaiyanant, a Democrat Party MP, and Suporn Atthawong, vice minister to the Prime Minister's Office, as its representatives on the reconciliation panel.
However, concerns were then raised about Mr Suporn's participation. A former key figure in the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, he had exchanged heated words with protesters.
Parliament president Chuan Leekpai also dismissed reports that he was unhappy with the names earlier proposed by the government.
He said he was confident everyone's input would be useful.
Mr Chuan also welcomed a report that the six opposition parties planned to review their decision not to be part of the reconciliation panel.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, asked about Mr Suporn being replaced by Gen Chaichan as a government representative on the panel, said yesterday he had been unaware of the prime minister's choices.
Mr Wissanu said Gen Prayut must have considered all aspects when deciding to nominate the deputy defence minister to sit on the unity panel.
The proposed committee will comprise 21 representatives from seven groups: two each from the government, government MPs, opposition MPs, senators, the protesters and other concerned groups, plus nine academics and experts.
The model was proposed by the King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI), which was asked by Mr Chuan to study the structure of a panel to be set up to restore national harmony after parliament failed to find a solution to the conflict during a two-day extraordinary session in October.