Dialogue and building trust 'can bring reconciliation'

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POLITICS
Dialogue and building trust 'can bring reconciliation'
Jeerapong Prasertpolkrung,
Nuntida Puangthong
The Nation


Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra poses with members of her Cabinet and speakers for yesterday

BANGKOK: -- Democracy, elections, trust and civil society are key elements for reconciliation, panelists said at a forum yesterday to find solutions for Thailand's major political divide.

Jens Orback, Sweden's former minister of democracy, said nations have diversities and difference, so groups in all countries need to build trust. One important element is civil society groups, as they play a key role in democracy. Civil groups must be independent from state control and intervention, he said.

Civil society structures are fundamental to democracy. Unless civil society is strong, democracy cannot be sustained. But, he said, this fundamental for democracy already existed in Thailand.

Stephen Stedman, deputy director of Stanford University's Centre on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law, said elections were meant to elect people to positions of power. So they must be honest, not only during the voting time but every day. If elections were honest and people in power acted with accountability, there would be reconciliation, he said.

Polls must be clean, transparent, and open to scrutiny by independent bodies and the winner of an election would earn the right to make decisions and policy, he said.

Kent Harstedt, a member of Sweden's parliament, said while foreign speakers joined the forum yesterday to share experiences, decisions about reconciliation must be made by Thai people.

Michael Vatikiotis, asian regional director at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, said there were conflicts in democratic processes in many countries in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia. Talk was one way to end conflict and bring reconciliation. Indonesia and the Philippines had experience in using dialogue and negotiation to end conflict, he said. However, there were no perfect solutions to end conflict, he noted. Peace and reconciliation required understanding and trust, as well as transparent and responsible government, he said.

Justice Ministry permanent secretary Kittipong Kittayarak, a former member of the Truth for Reconcilia-tion Commission of Thailand (TRCT), said the commission had carried out its duty with neutrality and advised the government to refrain from creating conflicts.

"We must first know what the roots of our conflicts are. We need to press charges in some cases while we have to forgive and forget in other cases. The TRCT has suggested that a national stage to reach national reconciliation must be continued,'' he said.

Thongthong Chandransu, permanent secretary of the PM's Office, said the government had decided to hold 108 events for the red and yellow shirts to discuss solutions to the country's division.

"We have seen them talk sensibly to each other in a good atmosphere, which might be difficult to happen otherwise,'' he said.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra indicated support for such an event, saying that there would be another forum to follow, without elaborating when.


-- The Nation 2013-09-03