Noted legal expert Kanit Na Nakorn said yesterday that he turned down the invitation as he considered that his duty with the TRCT was done. He is now busy teaching.

The former chairman said the commission had conducted an extensive study and came up with proposals for reconciliation, which have been published repeatedly and widely distributed. The public can find them easily, he said.

The government also has a number of other knowledgeable figures that it can invite, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday told reporters that the reconciliation committee he chairs would invite Kanit as well as noted social thinker Prawet Wasi to sit on the committee as its prime advisers, to help supervise and gather views from concerned parties.

The Deputy PM said he has studied their past work and agreed on almost all of the points, except for amnesty and justice delivery. He said his committee has not yet finished finalising the list of committee members and advisers but insisted that the views from all concerned would be gathered within three months.

Prawit said that at this point he has not yet officially invited any political parties to give views and he would not consider relaxing bans on political gatherings.

In a related development, chief charter drafter Meechai Ruchupan said the new bills on national strategy and on reforms are almost complete and will be forwarded to the government for consideration.

Meechai said the bills would lay out structures and procedures for the implementation of national strategy and reforms in the future. He insisted that the work of the new umbrella administrative committee on reform, reconciliation, and national strategy would not contradict the bills’ future implementation.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha last week invoked his power as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order to set up the umbrella committee, under which four panels, including Prawit’s, would expedite reform, reconciliation, national strategy, and boost administration strategically.

The bid is seen by several political observers as his renewed attempt to complete the work during his last year in office before passing it on to the next government. Much of the work, including reforms and national strategy, would also be framed in the new bills for the next government.

Prayut said yesterday the reconciliation committee should listen to political figures as part of the “agreement of truth” to be signed by all sides.

“I don’t expect the talks to be done at once,” Prayut said. “But they should keep talking until solutions are found. Don’t put so much pressure on us. We have timelines to work on.”

Aside from reconciliation, Prayut said the government would also focus on integration of all work and lay national strategies that will be adjusted every five years.