Charter drafters unsure how to ensure reconciliation after years of turmoil

Meechai said the charter draft would include mechanisms to bring about reconciliation in the future but the CDC had not yet come up with solutions to bridge political conflicts that had led to political upheaval in the past.
“If the government sets up a reconciliation panel, there is no need to have any provision about it in a provisional chapter,” he said.
Meechai said the writing of the charter draft was almost completed, but the CDC had yet to conclude how many articles there would be.
Meechai was speaking before leaving Parliament for Cha-am in Phetchaburi to join a meeting where the CDC will draft the charter article by article from today until next Sunday.
Earlier, Meechai asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to set up a reconciliation panel to resolve political conflicts. Prayut said he would ask Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who is in charge of legal affairs, about the necessity of such a panel, while admitting that it might be required.
Meanwhile, Suriyasai Katasila, director of Rangsit University’s Thailand Reform Institute, said he supported the move by the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to set up a special committee for reconciliation by inviting all parties to participate.
He said several governments had set up such panels in the past but failed to bring about national reconciliation because of a lack of trust. Some proposals have been seen as political ploys and in conflict with principles of reconciliation.
He said previous governments often focused on amnesty, with the Yingluck government’s proposal of a blanket amnesty engendering public distrust in her government.
He said he hoped this government would look at reconciliation in the longer term and in a more sustainable way as politicians involved in previous conflicts were not part of the current regime.
He suggested that the government do its homework thoroughly before issuing reconciliation proposals. “Prudent and logical judgement is needed to truly bring about reconciliation,’’ he said.
Pheu Thai Party caretaker deputy spokesman Anusorn Iamsa-ard gave a cool response to the NLA move. He said the initiative was merely “walking in a circle” or a tactic to buy time.
“We can reach reconciliation only when we respect the rights and liberty of citizens under democratic principles, when we adhere to principles of justice, and [there is] no double standard in law enforcement,” he said.
The Democrat Party’s chief of legal affairs, Wirat Kallayasiri, said any effort to bring about national reconciliation should be supported but he suggested that the NLA first look at proposals offered by a previous reconciliation panel, which he believed were worth considering.
“But that is not to right the wrong, otherwise we would face endless problems. We should allow the justice system to proceed. Suspects must face prosecution. Protesters who gathered peacefully are protected by the 2007 charter [and] should be spared from prosecution,’’ he said.
Those who committed serious crimes, supported leaders who staged terrorist acts or committed lese majeste must face prosecution, he said.
The Abhisit government in July 2010 appointed an independent fact-finding committee tasked with investigating past offences and crimes.
The panel, led by chairman Kanit na Nakorn, was referred to as the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) and was subsequently supported by the Yingluck government, although it was not empowered to consider amnesty for people involved in political violence in the preceding years.
In 2012, the commission released its final report on the political violence in April and May 2010, which was triggered by protests by the red-shirt group the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD). Protests devolved into violence, which saw at least 92 people killed and more than 2,000 injured.
The TRCT report concluded that the “men in black”, a militant offshoot of the red shirts, “played a crucial role in the Kok Wua intersection bloodbath on April 10, 2010 … and were involved in incidents leading up to the infamous May 19 crackdown”.
The report also criticised the Thai military for its use of live fire and the government for failing to limit the military’s actions to control the protests.
In its recommendations for reconciliation and preventing future conflicts, the report tackled highly controversial issues like the polarising influence of the media, ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s continued involvement in politics, and the 2012 amnesty and charter amendment bills, as well as the increasingly harsh enforcement of the lese-majeste law, which punishes those who insult the monarchy.