The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has started implementing a 3-stage administrative roadmap to move the country forward.
NCPO leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha explained the roadmap in a televised public address after the first week of the takeover of the country’s administration by the NCPO.
In the first phase of the roadmap, reconciliation process will be carried out as soon as possible, within a period of two to three months. Reconciliation centers for reform will be established in the capital and regional areas of the country. The reconciliation process will begin from the family level and expand to the village, sub-district, district, and provincial levels.
In this regard, the NCPO has assigned the Internal Security Operations Command to carry out this project, so that people holding different views will meet and discuss. By so doing, conflicts that may lead to violence will be prevented. Then working groups will be set up to prepare for the reform process.
The second phase involves the use of the interim constitution, which is being worked out by a group of legal experts. Then the national assembly will be set up to select the Prime Minister, and a cabinet will be formed for national administration. A reform council will be established simultaneously to carry out reform tasks that should be acceptable to all sides. This phase should take about one year, depending on the situation.
The third phase will begin after the reform achieves a success in bringing about national reconciliation and unity. It involves the organizing of a general election, under the democratic system. In this phase, laws and related rules and regulations will be revised and updated, so that good and honest people will be able to contest freely and then administer the country with good governance.
General Prayuth stated that the NCPO is well aware of international practices and understands what foreigners are thinking, but it needs some time to adjust local attitudes and values and to fix various problems in the country. This will lead to genuine democracy in Thailand. He called on everyone to cooperate in order to move the country forward, with stability and safety.
As for mega-projects, such as the two-trillion-baht transport infrastructure development and the 350-billion-baht flood and water management, launched by the previous administration, they will be reconsidered thoroughly and transparently. Necessary projects, such as double-track railway and electric train schemes, as well as other public facilities, will be implemented as the first priority. The annual national budget will be used to support these projects, or private investors will be urged to invest in them in order to reduce a state burden in securing massive loans.
The NCPO Leader said that all of these projects must be carried out in an integrated manner for the benefit of the people. As for the national budget in the 2015 fiscal year, it should be handled by the provisional government, to be formed before the next fiscal year begins on October 1, 2014.
