The road to national reconciliation has become the most divisive issue of the day, but a couple of small cracks appeared in the wall separating the country.
If politics are our carnival, and the attempt to legislate harmony is a roller coaster, then events of last week marked the first attempts to make the ride safer.
It may be a weird and wild gamble to try to enforce national reconciliation by enacting new laws, but at least and at last there were some efforts to inspect the roller coaster, oil the engine and put safety belts in the passenger cars.
Not that it will be plain sailing in the twin attempts to amend the constitution and pass a bill ordering the country to forgive and forget. As always, one man stood between the reality of deep division and the ideal of a unified nation, and that one man grabbed the spotlight yet again and uttered the preposterous: "Reconciliation is not about me."
But actually, it is.
Just as the national division began in 2005 over the Thaksin government, national reconciliation centres precisely on his removal from office, his legal conviction and his return to Thailand. The very idea that this political roller coaster is not about Thaksin Shinawatra transforms denial into an art form.
By media reaction and a number of political comments, last week's biggest brouhaha was not the murder indictment of ex-premier Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former security minister Suthep Thaugsuban. It was the appearance by Thaksin on the obscure, government-run NBT (Channel 11) during a boxing programme broadcast live from Macau.
It was all a little awkward, too, because the Democrat Party calling for the government to take responsibility for the programme knows that NBT is a government servant but also has to pretend to believe cabinet ministers who piously deny any influence over programme content on the station they own.
But while Thaksin was busy reinforcing the great national divide - yes, he actually said, "I personally believe that reconciliation will happen when the law is enforced in a fair and equal manner" - more practical and level-headed people were also at work.
Good news: Government spokesmen got behind the principle of holding a referendum on changes to the military-dictated constitution of 2007 instead of ramming it through parliament, damn the consequences. Bad news: They failed to plan. So it is even unclear whether such a vote would be held before - "Should we amend the constitution at all?" - or after - "Here are the proposed changes; what do you think?"
After all, the current charter also featured a referendum. But the referendum promise provided some hope, at least. And some of the cooler - or
at least more practical - Pheu Thai Party MPs began calling for public hearings to allow citizens to give their input on the amendments. Unfortunately, the full charter changes are still opaque. Remember how well organised and fully explained the passage of the 1997 "people's constitution" was.
National reconciliation involves personal opinions, and will be achieved by agreement, not with new laws. The country needs a proper constitution again, but for now, appearance is what matters. If it remains clear that new laws will give amnesty and remove accountability from the man at the centre of the national divide, the roller coaster will once again plummet earthwards at full speed, with no restraints.
Bangkok Post online classifieds
Try buying selling goods and properties 24/7 in our classifieds which has high purchasing power local expatriate audience from within Thailand and around the world.
About the author
Writer: Alan DawsonPosition: Online Reporter
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/12/16/the-big-issue-safety-restraints/
0 comments:
Post a Comment