Thai political reconciliation elusive due to lack of wider public participation: academics

[webfact]

Thai political reconciliation elusive due to lack of wider public participation: academics

By The Nation

 

File photo

 

As the country marks the 10th anniversary of political protests that erupted in violence, a pro-democracy group is campaigning to know the truth behind the tragic events.

 

The then-Abhisit Vejjajiva administration ordered security forces to crack down on protesters, resulting in scores of lives being lost.

 

Meanwhile, state officials are threatening legal action against those who have campaigned for truth in recent days over laser light projections of a "political message" on symbolic buildings.

 

The campaign for truth demonstrates the unresolved and deep political divide in the prolonged political conflict between the military and conservative faction on one side and the pro-democracy groups on the other.

 

“Neither political reconciliation, nor reform have made any progress,” said Gothom Arya, adviser to Mahidol University’s Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies.

 

While one side claims progress, the other side refuses to accept such claims, he added.

 

The heart of the issue is that there is a lack of people participation, as those who have seized political power do not make any real efforts to be open to wider people participation.

 

Trading accusations against each other will not lead to constructive engagement, he lamented.

 

People have the right to criticise former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, but demanding that he and others stand trial might be going too far, he said, referring to the bloody crackdown on red-shirt protesters 10 years ago.

 

The Covid-19 crisis has also slowed the efforts to amend the 2017 Constitution that could lead to political reconciliation. However, the virus crisis may narrow the gap between the rivals' political stands, he said.

 

Gothom was optimistic that Thailand could move towards political reconciliation should the government and the House of Representatives could work it out together, but large-scale participation from the public is also needed.

 

Titipol Phakdeewanich, dean of Ubon Ratchathani University’s Faculty of Political Science, said that acceptance of differences would be most important in the democratic process.

 

Reconciliation in Thailand's context only forces people to accept the idea of national unity, he argued.

 

Real political reconciliation must have an element of accepting differences which will accommodate all the different interested groups of people to live together peacefully, he said.

 

The Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand chaired by former attorney-general Kanit na Nakorn did not encompass all stake holders as the red-shirt group was blamed by the Abhisit government as troublemakers. The commission was appointed by the Abhisit government in the aftermath of the political violence in April and May of 2010.

 

Abhisit did not take any responsibility or accountability for the crackdown, said Titipol.

 

People have the right to campaign for the facts of the bloody crackdown, as so far people have only got the official account. Previous fact-finding efforts were only attempts to whitewash the previous government, he added.

 

Meanwhile, Anusorn Tamajai, chairman of Pridi Banomyong Institute, said that reconciliation could be achieved by knowing the truth about past political incidents. Those who had committed wrongdoings must be tried in court while those who were punished without justification must be compensated by the state. Then it should be followed by political amnesty, he said. Reconciliation is only the first step, but the ultimate goal is to become a fraternity, he added.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30388007

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-05-18

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Thaiwrath]

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

Those who had committed wrongdoings must be tried in court

Staging a military coup, in my, and most people's opinions, is a major wrongdoing, that will obviously go unpunished.  

[YetAnother]

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

The campaign for truth demonstrates the unresolved and deep political divide in the prolonged political conflict between the military and conservative faction on one side and the pro-democracy groups on the other.

indeed it does; military wins, academics complain (rightfully) , but to the thinking few

[Curt1591]

"Wider public participation" !?!

They may want to be care of what they wish! 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Curt1591

[Thailand]

What's to reconcile, the main opposition has been gagged.

[yellowboat]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Those who had committed wrongdoings must be tried in court....

Well protesting is considered wrong and the courts are subject to political whims.  People do not participate because they do not want to lose their job for end up dead.  Take the horror out of debate, and things will be better for the average Thai, and far worse for the Military and inbred elites.  Good luck!

[Bob12345]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The heart of the issue is that there is a lack of people participation, as those who have seized political power do not make any real efforts to be open to wider people participation.

The cake is already shrinking, opening to wider people participation means the little cake left needs to be divided by even more people. That wont happen.

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The campaign for truth demonstrates the unresolved and deep political divide in the prolonged political conflict between the military and conservative faction on one side and the pro-democracy groups on the other.

It demonstrates those who cannot let the past go and move on... as for political divide that's just snouts vying for a turn at the trough.

There is now one good party in Thailand, the only one that had a glimmer of hope got snuffed out.

[jingjing99]

Did the Thai people really accept the destruction of the Future Forward party ?

[cornishcarlos]

3 minutes ago, jingjing99 said:

Did the Thai people really accept the destruction of the Future Forward party ?

 Who knows ? They were muzzled by "Covid spread prevention"

[BobBKK]

However I loathe the military take-over and the take-down of the democratically elected government Prayut DID have a chance to build national unity by having a unity government with representation of all parties. Instead he chose to vilify and chase out the elected PM and shut down any form of protest or, even, debate. If Thailand is ever free, one day, they will loathe Prayut and his government as a sham power-grab. Reconciliation?  that horse left the box many years ago but you can't stop the people forever.     

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, BobBKK said:

However I loathe the military take-over and the take-down of the democratically elected government Prayut DID have a chance to build national unity by having a unity government with representation of all parties. Instead he chose to vilify and chase out the elected PM and shut down any form of protest or, even, debate. If Thailand is ever free, one day, they will loathe Prayut and his government as a sham power-grab. Reconciliation?  that horse left the box many years ago but you can't stop the people forever.     

 

Very difficult and complex question and hard to reason with our Western world views.

 

How do you deal with an executive that is corrupt, has a majority in parliament, and when the justice system is weak, variable, and often partisan?

 

How do you prevent the faction that the military supports taking power?

 

The reality is you need very strong checks and balances; a very strong, independent, impartial justice system, and political parties that are more than vehicles for one gang or another to get control, for their own benefit.

 

Too many developing countries are riddled with corruption and have virtual dictators who oppress real democracy - e.g. Venezuela, Cambodia, etc. by disbanding and imprisoning opposition politicians, parliaments and the free press.

 

Thailand is no where near as bad as some of the developing countries in Asia, South America and Africa. But, it still has a very very long road to anything like real democracy.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Baerboxer

[BobBKK]

22 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Very difficult and complex question and hard to reason with our Western world views.

 

How do you deal with an executive that is corrupt, has a majority in parliament, and when the justice system is weak, variable, and often partisan?

 

How do you prevent the faction that the military supports taking power?

 

The reality is you need very strong checks and balances; a very strong, independent, impartial justice system, and political parties that are more than vehicles for one gang or another to get control, for their own benefit.

 

Too many developing countries are riddled with corruption and have virtual dictators who oppress real democracy - e.g. Venezuela, Cambodia, etc. by disbanding and imprisoning opposition politicians, parliaments and the free press.

 

Thailand is no where near as bad as some of the developing countries in Asia, South America and Africa. But, it still has a very very long road to anything like real democracy.

 

 

 

 

Very difficult as the lower downs comply hoping to be up that tree one day. It is as selfish as that. Only the people can change it and that takes collective will and it is nowhere near that right now.