BANGKOK, June 4 — The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) working group on national reform convened its first meeting today with the aim of reconciliation and unity.
After the meeting, Gen Surasak Kanchanarat, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Defence and head of the working group, said reform was essential in Thailand because groups of people had tried to instigate violence among people holding different opinions.
According to Gen Surasak, acting Permanent Secretary for Defence, political reform will make politics acceptable to all parties. Resource reform will give all people equal access to national resources. People reform will make citizens abide by the law and law reform will emphasize law enforcement and lead to fair legal treatment.
The process of reform will consist of collecting existing reform ideas, relevant research and public opinion, their synthesis, and the proposal of refined initiatives to the NCPO, the National Legislative Assembly and the Reform Council for implementation.
The gathering of people’s opinions will be done through the http://rfm.mod.go.th website, the [email protected] email address and nationwide forums to be organised by reconciliation centers in provinces. The process is expected to take about two months.
“Political reform is the most difficult component and needs cooperation from all parties. Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, the NCPO chief, only instructed that any initiatives should be taken to make Thai people comply with law,” Gen Surasak said.
