Ampon recently retired as secretary-general of the Cabinet and is currently an adviser to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

PM’s Office Minister Suwit Maysinsee, secretary of the administrative committee dealing with the three sub-panels and an additional one on national administration, said the person who got the position must be resourceful, have good administrative skills and be capable of working with all four bodies effectively.

However, Suwit declined to confirm that Ampon had been selected for the post.

In a related development, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA)’s political committee was working on a draft bill concerning past political lawsuits, said NLA vice president Surachai Liengboonlertchai yesterday.

The bill would be one mechanism to help bring about reconciliation, he said.

Members of the political committee declined to disclose any details about the draft, saying no conclusions had been reached. But a source in the working group said the bill could allow the suspension of punishment for demonstrators unless they violated conditions of the suspension, in which case the punishment would be reinstated.

The source said the bill could also cover amnesties but there had to be a long process before that could happen.

Meanwhile, the heads of the new reform committee, the NLA and the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) will meet today to explore frameworks for national reconciliation.

Surachai said Suwit would meet today with NLA President Pornpetch Vichitcholchai as well as key NRSA figures.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is also a key member of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), would lead government efforts to take into account studies conducted by several committees in past years to help realise reconciliation, Surachai said. Authorities would look especially at the roots of the failures of previous reconciliation plans, he added.

“I would like all parties to detach themselves from their old stances and take on the common stance, which is the nation,” Surachai said.

“Drop the ego so that the country can move forward.”

The government has signalled that it wants conflicting parties to sign a pact or memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promise reconciliation, but the proposal has not been generally welcomed by the parties concerned.

Surachai said he believed members of the public wanted to be certain that everyone would keep their promises after the reconciliation process is complete.

He said conflicting parties should allow the committee to work to achieve the reconciliation, adding that the change could not come about unless everyone lent a helping hand, he said.

In a related development, former prime minister and leader of the Democrat Party Abhisit Vejjajiva said he was willing to help by submitting comments regarding conflict resolution and achieving reconciliation.

However, Abhisit said the government should not rush to conclusions that an MoU would solve the problem, while reconciliation should be about framing the future.

He said key political leaders could hardly represent the entire country in the matter, adding that there was no way for ordinary people, including demonstrators, to be covered by the agreement.

If the powers-that-be only stuck with the idea of a MoU, they could be misled, he said, adding that they should look at the roots of the problem, which he said was not about rejecting election results.

The former prime minister said the NCPO should truly heed the opinions from all parties in the conflict, not only political parties and groups.

Showing opposition to a general amnesty, Abhisit said everything should follow the due process of law, except for cases involving ordinary demonstrators who should be granted amnesties.