Who speaks for the red shirts on the reform council?
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The Pheu Thai Party and red shirts are concerned that the reform process will fail because the National Reform Council is made up largely of junta sympathisers.
Their fears are confirmed by the yellow shirts’ praise for the appointees.
But remember the uproar when Pheu Thai tried to ram its infamous amnesty bill down our throats with its Parliamentary majority, leading to the coup d’etat? A robust democracy must be supported by all major sections of society, not just the majority. If the red shirts view the NRC reforms as repulsive, as the yellow shirts rightly viewed the amnesty bill for Thaksin, they will soundly reject them, putting us back to Square 1 yet again.
Who speaks for the red shirts on the NRC? They, like the yellow shirts, have legitimate concerns that must be addressed if there is to be reconciliation and support for whatever government results from the next polls. We should engage red-shirt leaders in thoughtful, issue-oriented dialogue and debate, much as the Scottish and British leaders did recently on independence. That way all Thais, regardless of political hue, can be convinced that they have achieved the best possible bargain in the reforms, and that we are again on the road to growth.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok
