Prawit warns Jatuporn to hold fire

Red-shirt head denies plans for counter talks

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon yesterday warned red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan to stay put following his alleged proposal to hold his own unity talks if the government-organised sessions fail, saying the regime’s ban on political activities remains in place.

Mr Jatuporn, however, denied he intended to organise unity talks in competition with the government, and pledged his full cooperation with the reconciliation forums now in progress.

Gen Prawit, who chairs a government committee on national reconciliation, was reacting to media reports that Mr Jatuporn plans to organise a reconciliation forum if the government’s process fails to make progress after three months.

The government began discussions on national reconciliation with politicians on Valentine’s Day, with a set of 10 topics for politicians to contribute ideas on how national unity can be achieved. The talks would extend over three months.

Gen Prawit insisted the talks would make progress in line with the deadline given and urged Mr Jatuporn to contribute to it.

He said the government did not plan to proceed with the reconciliation plan alone, noting all stake-holders would have to join and contribute to make it happen.

“If Mr Jatuporn has questions, he can talk to me. Don’t try to do things that could be in violation of the law.

“If he has questions, he can ask me. I’ve sent out the invitations to all political groups asking them for their opinions about reconciliation,” said Gen Prawit.

A sub-committee gathering politicians’ views on national unity chaired by permanent secretary for defence Gen Chaicharn Changmongkol is doing its work. After the opinion-gathering is completed, two other sub-committees will take over.

Meanwhile, speaking at a training course on leadership and security for a group of 60 military officers and civilians, Gen Prawit said the course, based on the late King’s sufficiency economy principle, would be useful to the country’s reforms.

He also said the government’s challenge after almost three years in office was to foster national unity and implement a 20-year strategic plan for sustainable development.

He insisted the government was proceeding with reconciliation efforts and the roadmap to democratic rule would not be changed.

Meanwhile, Mr Jatuporn said he had no idea where Gen Prawit had received the information that he would hold a unity forum if the government-sponsored reconciliation sessions failed to make headway.

For some, the proposal brought to mind the UDD’s setting up of election watchdog centres in the provinces to keep an eye on last year’s public referendum. The government shut them down, saying it had mechanisms in place to watch the poll.

Mr Jatuporn said he was willing to join the government-sponsored reconciliation meetings, and denied resorting to threats to stir up political movements over reconciliation.

Whether the reconciliation issue makes progress will depend on the party responsible for making it happen, he said. He and the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship pose no obstacle.