Referendum: How to shed |light and avoid heat
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I fully agree with the 105 members of the Pheu Thai and Democrat parties and five civic organisations who called for open and inclusive debates to allow supporters and opponents of the draft charter to air their views.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wogsuwan has rightly said there might be conflicts between opposing sides if they are allowed to freely express their views, as in Aesop’s fable about the six blind men and the elephant. But we must communicate with each other in good faith so we can probe all sides of the question.
Debates overseen by a mutually accepted moderator forceful enough to keep discussion on-topic, peaceful and constructive would be the most effective way to bring out key points and prevent propagandising. Each side, unlike in the past, would thus have the opportunity to immediately point out the other’s misleading statements.
In addition, we learn toleration in considering views other than ours and seeking to shed light rather than heat. As former prime minister Anand Panyarachun noted, “Real democratic values are about how to reach a consensus, how to tolerate other people. These are the core values that we have not tried to learn or to emulate, or understand.”
Let’s have a well-informed electorate for the referendum.
Burin Kantabutra
