New council to create reform roadmap

THE GOVERNMENT’S Political Reform Council should be able to come up with a roadmap for political, economic and social reform within three months as evidence of its sincerity, participants in the reform forum said.
House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont said the political reform forum had resolved that committees be set up to write the roadmap.
Senate Speaker Nikom Wairat-panij, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s determination should create confidence among foreigners, adding that she should be able to easily push for real political reform.
“What we came up with [at the forum on Sunday] was that Chart Thai Pattana Party’s chief adviser Banharn Silapa-archa would coordinate to get a roadmap drawn up for the present and the future. I suggest that recommendations proposed by previous panels led by Prawase Wasi, Anand Panyarachun and Kanit na Nakorn should be considered, and though the situation might be different, we can learn from the past. I think we should see the roadmap take form within three months,” he said.
However, Khon Kaen Senator Prasert Prakoonsuksapan, who attended the forum, called on the government to make rampant corruption its first priority.
“Only I and another member raised this in the forum, and the PM just responded by saying ‘I will ensure transparency’. This is far too vague. I want to know exactly how the PM can combat corruption,” he said.
Thirapat Serirangsan, chairman of the Political Development Council, said he wanted to see if the government was sincere about reform. “The government needs to show concrete results within three months or it will lose credibility,” he said at the forum.
Though he was sceptical, Thirapat agreed to join the government’s initiative, saying if the government proved its sincerity to push for reform, people with different views might change their minds.
Suwat Liptapanlop, de facto leader of Chart Pattana Party, said the government was heading in the right direction, as it had to be responsible for the state of the country, especially in terms of the current political and economic situation. However, it would need more cooperation from all sectors of society.
Asked whether former premier Thaksin Shinawatra should join, Suwat said every Thai had the right to offer their opinions.
King Prajadhipok’s Institute deputy secretary-general Woothisarn Tanchai, another participants expressed confidence in the potential of the political reform council, reasoning that it consisted of knowledgeable people who can brainstorm for the reform. He also voiced support for Banharn as coordinator of the reform saying he had had extensive experience in pushing for a reform and would help find the country’s solutions to current conflicts.
“I suggested that the government comes up with concrete achievement within three months to find solutions for the country as many sectors have put high hope to the council, he said after referring to the government’s announcement to take action within one month.
He said the government must also be sincere in inviting those with different views to join the panel to prevent criticism that the council was merely the government’s mouthpiece.Separately, social critic Prawase, who had previously refused to attend the forum, pointed out that attempts to introduce economic, political and moral reforms in the country had failed because Thai society was weak. “We cannot build a strong society if we are not united. Strength must be built from the grassroots level in every sector from political to natural resources,” he said.
Democrat spokesman Chava-nond Intarakomalyasut, meanwhile, dismissed the plan for a roadmap saying it would not be new or any different than the recommendations made by previous panels, and alleged the government had a hidden agenda. “The government already has clear objectives about what it wants from the council. I believe its objectives are to amend the charter, issue laws to whitewash those who committed wrongs and return frozen assets to questionable figures.”