Political peace and casualties of the national divide

Although they are firmly on one side of the political divide, Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and key yellow-shirt member Suriyasai Katasila are right about one thing: A meeting between Privy Council chief Prem Tinsulanonda and Thaksin Shinawatra will never solve Thailand’s crisis. Our problem, according to Abhisit, is multi-dimensional and can never go away with two people, no matter who they are, making peace. Suriyasai went for a big punch, saying any move that served the interests of individuals cannot be classified as national reconciliation. 

Even bringing up Prem’s name is suspicious. One side may even call it counter-productive. He has always been a central figure picked on for attacks in pro-Thaksin campaigns. When the yellow shirts’ protest against the Thaksin regime was at its peak, a bomb exploded at the gate of Prem’s Si Sao residence. A noisy gathering took place at the same venue after Thaksin was ousted in the military coup in 2006. In 2010, throughout the months-long rallies by the red shirts that ended in the May 19 violence, their leaders castigated him on their stages, often using ugly profanities.

Prem never responds to accusations. For him to sit down and talk with Thaksin is unimaginable. The latter is more or less in a similar situation, having claimed repeatedly that the red-shirt uprising had nothing to do with him. To have both men start a “peace talk” is like having them declare that the whole problem boils down to them. Chart Thai Pattana chief adviser Sanan Kachornprasart suggested the “summit” a few days ago. A little earlier, Sanan made another controversial move, challenging the former leader of the 2006 coup to speak up on whether the power seizure was masterminded by somebody else. Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who now ironically chairs the ad-hoc House committee on national reconciliation, insisted that the coup was his idea, but he also issued enough cryptic messages to keep the coup myth alive.

No matter what people are saying, the bottom line is that whatever happened back in the early 2000s is irrelevant now. True reconciliation now hinges on the real casualties of war – the badly divided Thais who have seen relationships or friendships placed in jeopardy simply because they like different political figures that they don’t even know well. If the ongoing political crisis started at the top, it is now consuming the whole country. Even if Thaksin and his main enemies want peace with all their hearts now, it’s not up to them anymore. A handshake picture may make good publicity, and paper over national rifts for a few days, but real reconciliation will still depend on the people who were made to hate each other so much over the past few years.

However, we cannot expect a whole-hearted handshake to begin with. Every sign indicates that everyone has been using the term “reconciliation” for personal interest one way or another. Constitution Court President Wasant Soipisut may have reflected many people’s feelings when he said on Thursday that he could not see how political peace could be achieved in the near future. Maybe we will have to wait until all key players in the internecine feud die out, he quipped.

Wasant’s damning verdict on the prospect of reconciliation is hard to argue against. Evidence backing up his analysis was in abundance last week. A House debate on whether and how soon Parliament should kick-start deliberations of a reconciliation report ended up rekindling contentious issues and reopening old wounds. Vetting of the charter amendment bill has been rocked by charges that the government forced through its agenda despite having lost a vote. Nothing, it seems, can change how one side of the political divide is feeling toward the other.

We can expect all these after letting politicians take the lead in the so-called “reconciliation” process. Some may argue that he who broke it shall fix it, but when a political power struggle has been brought to the common man and turned citizens into sworn enemies, things are no longer that simple. Most, if not all, Thais have become casualties of this war, and while we can end a war, it’s harder to reverse the casualties.