Democrats resign to protest KPI report
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Nine Democrat Party MPs Monday resigned from the House special committee on national reconciliation to protest against the chairman's refusal to review the report of the King Prajadipok's Institute.
The resignations were announced by Phatthalung MP Nipit Intharasombat. Nipit said that the government has shown that it does not attach importance to coming up with reconciliatory measures for the entire country but was giving priority to the red-shirt people.
“Thus, we will leave the government to reconcile with the red shirts on their own,” Nipit said.
Nipit told Thai Rath Online that the resignations were in protest at panel chairman Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin’s refusal to review or modify the reconciliation proposals of the KPI.
Nipit said the Democrats, who were minority members of the ad hoc panel, submitted a request to Sonthi on Thursday, asking him to review the proposals of the KPI on national reconciliation but Sonthi would not listen to the demands of the minority side on the panel.
Among other things, the KPI proposed the undoing of all legal cases of the Assets Examination Committee. Sonthi decided to submit the report and proposals of the KPI to the House for endorsement.
Nipit said the KPI itself has backed down from its proposals, asking the panel to first review the pros and cons of its three proposals before rushing them to the House. But Sonthi was still determined to submit the KPI’s proposals to the House for a majority vote.
Democrat leader and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva has written three open letters to the KPI and Sonthi asking for a review of the report and the proposals but his requests have gone unheeded.
“The nine Democrats decided to resign from the reconciliation panel so that their names would not be used as references in the KPI’s report,” Nipit said.
