Democrats propose ‘sustainable democracy’ in talk with panel
The meeting on Friday between the Democrat Party and the reconciliation preparation committee ended after three-and-a-half hours of talks, with the Democrats proposing what it calls “sustainable democracy” as a common goal to help deliver true reconciliation.
The party also stressed that democracy itself is not the problem – the implementation of it was.
The Democrat Party was the first big party to join the discussions at the Ministry of Defence, and was led by its leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The former prime minister said that in the discussion the Democrats only tried to provide answers 10 questions as proposed by the host, with the main focus questions relating to reconciliation and conflict resolution.
He said the key point was to create sustainable democracy.
“The flawed adoption of democracy in the past is the problem that needs to be fixed,” he said. “The true democracy is respect of rights and inclusive participation. They have to go together with the rule of law and limit the exercise of power of elected [government].”
Such a goal would guide the reform that followed, Abhisit said, adding that included related issues such as corruption, justice, and the work of independent agencies and authorities.
The self-sufficiency theory could also be adopted, the democrat leader added, explaining everyone could take the middle path and not go too extreme in either way. The democrats proposed that these were the key to creating the sustainable democracy, he said.
In regard to amnesty, he said it could be a part of the conflict resolution scheme but it should only be limited to ordinary protesters and those committing minor offence and excluded the leaders.
The former prime minister expressed disagreement with the ‘agreement of truth’ which some authorities had said contract should be signed to bind all parties.
Abhisit said it was not a solution and would be meaningless if nobody kept the promise.
