Representatives from the parties – Mahachon, Phalang Chon, Thai Forest Land Reclamation, People Power Network, Cooperative Power and Thai Rubber – provided comments to the committee on Tuesday and yesterday.

The opinions will be included in the hearing conducted by the committee, overseen by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, as a process to issue an “agreement of truth” to be endorsed by various blocs in the hope of settling the long-running political crisis.

Pheu Thai, UDD on the roster

Committee Spokesperson Maj-General Kongcheep Tantrawanich said the parties had concluded that reconciliation must be built on engagement by all sectors as well as respect for laws and political mechanisms.

The judicial system and independent agencies, the parties said, must be transparent so they can be scrutinised in line with a checks-and-balances system. The government must also manage natural resources to cope with social inequality efficiently and educate young people to be aware of the threat of corruption, Kongcheep quoted the parties as saying.

He added that the committee had heard comments from 30 parties and was expecting to hear from the rest by the end of the month. Four more minor parties will be heard tomorrow.

The Pheu Thai Party is scheduled to meet the committee next Wednesday, followed by the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) on March 15, he added.