Abhisit Asks Institute to Lead the Way On Reforms

King Prajadipok's Institute will decide by Monday whether it will accept a leading role in political reforms.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Reporters' Day on Thursday he would know on Monday if KPI could be persuaded to carry out the task.

The Democrat party"s stance is that it would not become directly involved in political reform. Mr Abhisit had mentioned KPI as being his preferred agency to undertake the task because of its neutrality. The institute is led by Borwornsak Uwanno, a well-known expert on constitutional law.

Mr Abhisit hoped the opposition parties would provide input into how they expect politics to evolve when the process of political reform begins.

He said it was necessary for the public to accept political reform because society was deeply divided.

Mr Abhisit called for people to be patient by refraining from imposing a timeframe on reform or demanding that it be completed before the tenure of his Government expires.

He also urged the media to take a bigger role in the reform process, saying in his keynote speech that if the media continued to condone politicians who engage in improper behaviour, society would never progress politically.

The Prime Minister also called on the public to try to understand the concept of democracy and majority, saying politicians tended to use it as a mechanism to justify their use of political power.

He said that while a "majority" meant a mandate to administer the country, it did not mean politicians who won a majority could abuse the law.

He said political reform could not be guaranteed if political culture and values did not change too.

He also favoured the amendment of the controversial Article 237 of the constitution which deals with the dissolution of political parties.

The provision allows for the dissolution of a political party if an executive member is found guilty of violating the election law.

He said that before a political party is disbanded it should be established that an executive who is implicated in electoral fraud had done so for the party's benefit, not for personal gain.

Commenting on the red-shirt proThaksin Shinawatra protest scheduled for tomorrow, Mr Abhisit said there would be no violence as long as the demonstrators did nothing that was perceived as a challenge to the Government.

He said the Government had no plans to block the rallies but expected the demonstrators to follow the law and refrain from physical abuse.

In conjunction with Reporters' Day, the Thai Journalists Association announced the best story of the year came from Matichon daily for exposing corruption among publishing firms and local administrative organisations regarding textbooks delivered to schools across the country.

The best environment story went to the same newspaper for its investigation of check dams built by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Source - The Bangkok Post