Parties have 'amicable' meeting
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Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday emerged from a three-hour meeting with the opposition Democrat Party on laying down a peace path in the restive South, saying the two parties agreed on the objective but may take different ways to express thems
“We want to see the same thing. I told the opposition that we are working toward that goal,” she said.
The opposition may have some concerns about the situation but the government explained what it was doing on the ground, she said.
The opposition MPs, who are mostly from the South, stated their reservations over development work and the government clarified what the state agencies were trying to do in that regard, she said.
Yingluck and opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva sat down to discuss measures to contain the violence in the deep South that has killed more than 5,000 people since the end of 2003.
The government had invited Abhisit and Democrat MPs, who claimed they knew better about the problems in the predominantly Muslim region, to join the meeting to exchange views and information on how to bring the violence to an end.
The opposition’s recommendations were not any different from what the government was doing, but the way they communicated to the public might be different, she said.
The opposition wanted to see peace, development and local participation, but so does the government, she said.
Army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha said the meeting’s atmosphere was amicable and both sides reached a deeper understanding.
Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said the opposition suggested many useful ideas to solve the problems in the southern border provinces.
Deputy Premier Chalerm Yoobamrung said it was the first time in his long political career to see the government and opposition sitting together in a good mood.
Abhisit said the opposition needed to talk to the government as it felt that many of its actions were problematic.
The recent establishment of an operations centre for the South, for example, was confusing the lines of command rather than helping to address the problems, he said.
The opposition offered some advice so that the government could better deal with the situation, such as a politically-led military approach, and the government now saw the whole picture. But the opposition did not expect the government to follow up on all the points, he said.
