Red and yellow shirts ready for reconciliation but

“The red shirts are clear about their conditions for reconciliation,” she said.
Thida said the national reconciliation will hinge on three conditions – uncovering the truth behind the political mayhem, bringing the culprits behind the last year’s crackdown to justice and a guarantee to prevent a repeat of bloodshed.
On Tuesday, MP Sonthi Boonyaraglin, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the House committee on reconciliation, called for all sides to forgive and forget the policial disturbances.
He also said he would invite the rival camps to testify and spell out conditions to bring about reconciliation.
Reacting to Sonthi’s remarks, Thida said she viewed the call for forgiveness was an empty gesture without a tangible plan to achieve reconciliation.
She said in her view, the red shirts would embrace reconciliation once the three conditions were met.
She also said the red shirts would not agree to a blanket amensty without punishing the culprits responsible for the bloodshed.
The People’s Alliance for Democracy will welcome reconciliation only after uncovering the truth and punishing those responsible for triggering the violence and violating legal and constitutional provisions in the past five years.
“Forgiveness can happen but not via a short cut to whitewash the culprits,” PAD’s Suriyasai Katasila said in his capacity as leader of Green Politics, a splinter movement.
Suriyasai said he suspected the Pheu Thai Party to have been exploiting the committee on reconciliation in order to rescue Thaksin.
Though the red and yellow shirts are speaking about justice as the basis for reconciliation, the two camps are poles apart.
To the reds, a critical step for reconciliation would be the punishment of those cracking down on their rallies.
For the yellows, the reconciliation process should not help Thaksin elude his two-year jail term.
Multi-colour shirt leader Tul Sitthisomwong said amnesty, if granted, should confine to political activities and not criminal violations, such as rioting, assualts and corruption.