'Maybe they all must die first'

 The statement coincided with a new wave of pessimism, setbacks and controversies rocking the ruling camp’s campaign for reconciliation. The House of Representatives was thrown into turmoil earlier this week over attempts to rush through a contentious peace blueprint initiated by researchers of the King Prajadhipok’s Institute. The House committee vetting the charter amendment bill courted a scandal yesterday by going back on a resolution that went against government proposals.
An idea to have Privy Council chief Prem Tinsulanonda and Thaksin Shinawatra meet has been welcomed, criticised and ridiculed.

“The very people who are calling for reconciliation do not want to actually be reconciled with their enemies,” said Wasant. Given the occasion, he seemed to be speaking his heart. Similar messages, however, have been sent out by various others, including those with political motives. The critics of the government’s reconciliation move are trying to chip away at its proclaimed purpose, saying all the signals point toward unilateral efforts to serve individuals’ needs, not national interests.

“It’s not reconciliation if the goal is to serve Thaksin’s needs,” a yellow-shirt leader, Suriyasai Katasila, said of the idea to have Prem meet Thaksin. Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva also heavily criticised the idea, saying he could not understand how the two men’s meeting would put to rest Thailand’s multi-dimensional political divide.

It was Chart Thai Pattana adviser Sanan Kachornprasart who called for such a meeting. Whereas Abhisit obviously does not agree with this idea, he certainly must embrace Sanan’s other proposal.
The Chart Thai Pattana veteran, who used to be a powerful man in Abhisit’s party, also suggested that the King Prajadhipok report should be withdrawn from the House of Representatives after the document on Tuesday triggered one of the most exasperating confrontations on the parliamentary floor in recent memory.

The King Prajadhipok’s Institute is to have a high-level meeting on Monday to consider the report, which contains a proposal to nullify corruption investigations carried out in the wake of the 2006 coup. The institute’s top men have reportedly been upset that researchers’ hard work meant to help the country achieve political peace seems to be having the opposite effect. Speculation yesterday focused on whether the institute would eventually “pull back” the report, and whether that could actually be done, now that the House of Representatives has voted to kick-start its deliberation.

If the House of Representatives begins deliberating the report, the political temperature will keep rising. A parallel problem concerns the charter amendment bill, which the government hopes will pave the way for the setting up of an elected national assembly to draft a brand-new Constitution. The second reading of the bill is running behind schedule and the government whips were yesterday lobbying for an extension of the current parliamentary session, which ends in the middle of next month, for another month.

The extension would keep the timeframe for enacting a new Constitution on track. But again, the ruling party is being asked why the “reconciliation” plan has to proceed in such a hurry. The proposed extension has fuelled criticism that the overall “peace” process may actually have been designed to serve specific needs.

Defenders of the government’s move insist that something has to be done, and that controversies are common and to be expected. However, according to the critics, to do things quickly is one thing, but doing things selectively that seem to benefit just one side is another. The Democrats, in particular, are saying that the current process is nothing but blame one side and absolve the other.

Whether Wasant is right or wrong, this tumultuous week is just a prelude. The contents of the King Prajadhipok’s Institute report have not even been debated yet. The charter amendment bill is only in the middle of the second reading. There will still have to be an election of Constitution drafters, who will have to handle all kinds of explosive issues. And last but not least, their draft will have to go before a national referendum. Wasant didn’t say this, but peace remains far off, and a new political war always appears closer.