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SOUTHERN INSURGENCY
Peace-talks office 'proposed by M'sia'
The Nation

Chief Thai negotiator on southern insurgency warns against undue haste

BANGKOK: -- An office in the deep South to keep the ball rolling in the renewed peace talks with insurgents has reportedly been proposed by Malaysia, the facilitator, while Thailand's chief negotiator urged the dialogue to proceed step by step so that there was no need for both sides to be pressured or to be hasty.

General Aksara Kerdpol, the chief negotiator, had this week reportedly flown to Malaysia to touch base with the team of facilitator Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim, a national-security source said.

They reportedly discussed a new framework for the peace talks, under which Malaysia suggested the new office's establishment to move the talks along, which reportedly should lead to a ceasefire agreement by the middle of next year.

However, it wasn't clear if Thailand would act upon the suggestion, the source said.

Another Thai government source confirmed Aksara's trip to Malaysia on Monday but said it was only to familiarise himself with the facilitator team. The new conditions for the roundtable would clearly define the mission of the talks and the roles of Thailand, the Malaysian facilitator and insurgent groups - a bigger scope from the previous conditions detailing only the facilitator's role.

"The policy had changed a lot, so there was a need for new terms. Matters like who covers what expense should be included," the source said.

The members of the new Thai negotiation team will be nominated by next week, while insurgent groups will be contacted to send their representatives to the talks, according to the source.

After Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha's December 1 visit and discussion with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak, the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (Pulo) under the leadership of Kasturi Mahkota recently issued a statement on its website backing the talks.

Pulo said the two prime ministers agreed that the talks should keep three things in mind - to end the violence, talk with all insurgent groups and have all insurgent groups unite in proposing demands to be implemented in the region. The statement also praised the omission of a condition to negotiate under the Thai constitution and a condition to talk with a certain group.

Three phases

After Prayut approved the structure for peace talks - comprising the Steering Committee for Dialogue chaired by himself or his assigned deputy, the Aksara-led 10-or-15-strong Peace Dialogue Panel, and the Area-based Inter-agency Coordination Working Group - the talks were reportedly set to take three phases. These were building trust, achieving a code of conduct for both sides to reduce confrontation and violence, and the consensus to a road map out of the conflicts via peaceful means.

In a recent exclusive interview with Nation Multimedia Group, Aksara said Prayut would be the one who set the framework and roles for the talks. Aksara said he was waiting for the National Security Council to give details before pushing the matter forward and for the negotiation team to form first.

He said the new talks would be clearer and more systematic and measurable. The work would be divided into three levels. These are a decision-making level to discuss points for implementation or to end the problem, a negotiation panel to table the points that would not be against the national constitution or lead to new conflicts, and the on-the-field group to measure progress in tackling the unrest situation.

"We are going in a good direction. All groups are looking at us, so if we are clear then they will be ready … Prayut and Razak have signalled to the region and world that we are willing to cooperate to solve a conflict, ahead of the Asean Economic Community," he said.

Every issue has responsible parties, so people should give them encouragement to work first, he said.

The fact that this government did not come from political parties should be a good opportunity to solve issues with neighbouring countries, he claimed. This government had no hidden agenda but just wished to restore peace in the region.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Peace-talks-office-proposed-by-Msia-30249656.html


-- The Nation 2014-12-12