Thailand’s junta sets up military-led reconciliation panel ahead of planned election
Thailand’s junta is setting up a reconciliation panel of generals and experts to find common ground between political factions ahead of elections, the general named to lead the body said on Friday.
But critics questioned how neutral the panel would be given decades of military involvement in politics.
We will spend three months listening to the views of every side and on every subject whether it is politics, reforms or education
The army overthrew Thailand’s last elected prime minister in 2014, saying it had intervened to end street protests and years of political turmoil. It has promised to restore democracy to the Southeast Asian country.
General Chaichan Changmongkol, appointed by the junta to lead the panel, told reporters it would include the head of the armed forces, army specialists and civilian experts.
“We will spend three months listening to the views of every side and on every subject whether it is politics, reforms or education,” said Chaichan, who is permanent secretary at the Ministry of Defence.
The panel would then come up with an agreement that all sides would sign to ensure a peaceful transition, he said.
Thailand’s political divide is broadly between a traditionalist elite, centred on Bangkok, and the less prosperous parts of the country, which largely backed populist governments before the most recent coup.