Deputy Democrat leader Thaworn Senneam said if the government really wants to push forward national reconciliation it needs to evaluate whether it abused power as some stakeholders had claimed.

The government should not think that conflicts were only caused by politicians, because state officials also played a part, he said.

“The wrongdoing by the officials is not different from that of politicians. Did the government investigate those who were involved with corruption? When people cannot resist the corruption and stage a protest, the government blames politicians for the conflicts,” he said.

‘Listen and compromise’ 

Thaworn said the government also needed to listen to and compromise with stakeholders who felt they were abused or unjustly treated through the double standards and acts of past and present governments.

A committee on national reconciliation, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, will begin discussions with politicians on Tuesday.