Reconciliation requires sacrifices
Bussing in government supporters for prospective encounters with anti-government protesters is not helpful for reconciliation.
If reconciliation was in progress previously, the amnesty bill widened the division. Charges were brought against one side of the conflict. The content of the amnesty bill upset the rank-and-file red shirts. The Senate’s refusal of the bill postponed amnesty for this group for at least six months. It is the only hook on which to hang Thaksin’s whitewash. If the prime minister wants reconciliation she needs to address the Thaksin situation directly. She calls for respect for the law when she has studiously dismissed it and aided and abetted a criminal on the run throughout her period in office. It is time for a change of policy. She should not resign. She should put it right.
Richard Bowler
Bangkok
