The group also admitted to wholeheartedly rooting for junta head General Prayut Chan-o-cha to complete the reforms.

“We’ve made the point in the meeting that the masses expect the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO] and the government led by [Prayut] to finish the reforms so the country can continue as a democracy with the monarch as the head of state,” PDRF president Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday after four hours of reconciliation talks at the Defence Ministry.

The former Democrat politician said the people had closely followed the government’s work and found it to meet their expectations. However, there were still many issues left to be tackled hence the people supported the government to carry on the work, Suthep said.

Politics remained the most pressing matter needing reforms, the PDRF told the military-initiated reconciliation meeting, he said.

“Politics has to serve the people. In the past, it was [dominated by] politicians and financiers as well as interest groups. It’s never about the people,” Suthep said. “Most importantly, political parties must be run by people who support democratic rule with the monarch as the head of state, not the republic.”

Contrary to the opinion of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, the PDRF president said absolute power under Article 44 of the interim charter was not a problem for reform. Suthep said it as an opportunity for the junta to effectively reform the country.

Even if the continuation of reform work could delay the promised road map to democracy, the people would still support it, Suthep said.

“To my knowledge, the people are not in a hurry for election to take place. They want to see changes and reform in the country before moving forward,” he said. “The PDRF has no concerns over the NCPO staying in power so long as it works to push reforms.”

In response to a question that the PDRF’s stance made it seem as though the group was siding with the military, Suthep said it has always been “explicit” that it rooted for the military and General Prayut. This was never hidden, he said.

The PDRF president also said that the group would accept the election results and not march in the streets as long as the process followed the proper rules.

Suthep declined to speak on reaching an agreement as a result of the reconciliation talks. The former politician said he was not certain if everyone was on the same page when referring to such an agreement as ‘the social contract’ as named by head of the reconciliation exercise, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

The PDRF was also represented by Satit Wongnongtoey, Akanat Promphan, Chitpas Kridakorn, Thavorn Seniem, Nattapol Teepsuwan, Chumpol Julsai, and Sakoltee Patthippayakul at the reconciliation talks.

The PDRF was the last group to attend the talks hosted by the Defence Ministry after it initiated the process on February 14. Groups and political parties, however, were still welcome to voice their opinion. The ministry would open an extra round of talks upon request in April.

Prawit said a meeting would be convened on Monday with the three committees on the reconciliation scheme as the first stage – gathering opinions – had already been mostly completed.