Surasak Tumcharoen
BANGKOK, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The Thai people should be given a chance to actively participate in the forging of national reconciliation as initiated by the ruling military junta, according to Eakpant Pindavanija, a lecturer at Mahidol University 's Research Center for Peace.
Eakpant said Tuesday that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the official name of the military junta that staged the May 22 coup to take the power from the caretaker government, should allow the people throughout the country to play a pivotal role in the mapping out of national reconciliation and reform plans.
His comments followed a fresh plan pushed by army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, NCPO head, to set up a Reconciliatory Center for Reforms (RCR) as a vehicle to speed up the reconciliation process and the return to constitutional democracy and new elections.
Gen Prayuth, who cited widespread speculation of street chaos and bloodshed that could have capped the six-month-long political crisis as the reason for the staging of a coup, has said that the country needs to undergo major reforms not only in the political arena but also in the bureaucratic, economic and social sectors as part of the reconciliation process.
The Mahidol academic said that the people should be given the chance to actively participate in the reconciliation process.
"In order to get popular endorsement, plans and schemes toward the national reconciliation and reforms should be primarily laid out by the people with the collaboration of the military," he said.
Eakpant said that although Gen Prayuth has already assigned the Internal Security Operations Command, an army-led psychological warfare agency, to set up the RCR, the public should be given a key role in its operations so that it can be successful.
Those who will sit on the reconciliatory body should be elected from among people who may voluntarily represent varied sectors of society, he suggested.
Such a joint military-civilian body could be expected to get the full support of the people and would contribute to easing tension in the country, Eakpant said.
Importantly, he added, leaders of the opposing sides of society should be given a chance to air their views on voluntary basis.
Given the fact that the polarized conflict among the opposing sides of society, spearheaded by varied politicians, has remained unresolved over the last several years, the junta's bid to forge reconciliation and reforms in Thai society is commendable but would likely be a painstaking endeavor, according to the academic.
"The polarized politics has generated a lasting conflict and hate among members of the public nationwide and the degree of such mutual animosities had obviously increased by the day," Eakpant said.
Eakpant said that the ultimate objective of the military junta to undertake measures that would finally solve the fractious and often violent confrontation among the political parties should be main agenda of the RCR.
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