Global IssuesPOLITICS-THAILAND: Peace Talks Echo Spirit of Non-violence
Thailand’s culture of non-violence got a shot in the arm on Monday, after Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ended a second round of nationally televised peace talks with leaders of the anti-government movement that has been holding protests for over two weeks now.
The two hours of negotiations on Monday evening between the Thai government led by Abhisit and a delegation of red shirt protesters, so-called because of their protest colour, saw this kingdom take a few steps back from brinkmanship.
Aimed at bridging a bitter political divide, the talks followed the opening round of negotiations on Sunday evening that lasted three hours at the same venue, a think tank in a Bangkok suburb.
The talks were a historic occasion because they were relayed live on all national television stations and reportedly watched by record numbers, analysts say. Such a conflict resolution exercise also did away with the conventional involvement of a neutral third party as a peace broker to help the two three-member panels iron out their differences.
'It was a time-stopping moment, very unprecedented. You really saw people with profound political differences coming together and engaged in a conversation in a civilised manner,' says Chaiwat Satha-Anand, chairman of the Strategic Non-violence Commission at the Bangkok-based Thailand Research Fund. 'It shows how Thai society is maturing to resolve political conflicts.'
The talks were pivotal for another reason, Chaiwat, also a professor of political science at Bangkok’s Thammasat University, said in an IPS interview. 'Supporters who were only believing their side, watching their own TV and following their own news got a chance to see both sides of the disagreement aired during the talks.'
In fact, it was the public that 'played the role of the neutral third party by following the proceedings,' Chaiwat adds. 'This presence of the third party was marked in its absence — the public viewers.'
The two days of talks followed heightened tension on the streets of Bangkok over the weekend. Tens of thousands of red shirt supporters, who rally under the banner of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), took on the country’s powerful military to ratchet up pressure on the 15-month-old Abhisit administration.
On Saturday the UDD, which is backed by the fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, forced unarmed soldiers guarding temples and a government building close to their protest site in old Bangkok to retreat. On Sunday morning, thousands of red shirts swarmed to a military camp in northern Bangkok where Abhisit has taken refuge since Mar. 13.
UDD leaders describe the street protests, which began three Saturdays ago, as an exercise in non-violence to force the government to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections. Tens of thousands of red shirts from the rural north and north-east swelled the round-the-clock protests and pushed protesters’ numbers to 150,000 on three consecutive weekends.
'The talks we have had with the government is an extension of our commitment to non-violent protest,' Weng Tojirakan, a UDD leader who took part in the talks, told IPS. 'Dialogue to resolve our difference is one of our options.'
But there remains a major sticking point: the UDD’s call for an early election, which the Abhisit administration has not conceded to.
'Fifteen days is an impossible demand,' the premier said early into Tuesday’s talks. That was the ultimatum the UDD had given him to call a fresh poll.
But two hours later, the government showed some flexibility as Abhisit suggested that the parliament could be dissolved 'by the end of the year.' To that, UDD negotiators said they needed to consult their supporters at the protest site.
The UDD’s call for parliamentary elections ahead of the scheduled poll in December 2011 stems from the questionable manner in which the Abhisit- led coalition came to power. It followed a controversial court case that saw the dissolution of a party that UDD supporters had elected into government the previous year. The current government then stepped into the void following backroom deals shaped by Thailand’s army.
In April 2009, red shirt anger against the Abhisit administration exploded on Bangkok’s streets as UDD supporters clashed with armed troops following days of protests.
The UDD’s turn toward civil disobedience in the non-violence tradition since then has been matched by the government’s own efforts. The red shirt protesters were allowed to capture a large area in old Bangkok in order to hold their rallies since mid-March. Soldiers guarding nearby buildings were disarmed, having just batons as their weapons.
'We accept that people will have different political views and want to express them in public, so we would like if it is done within the rules of the law,' a government insider told IPS the first week into the protests. 'Thailand will benefit if people do so in a democratic, non-violent manner.'
The moderation displayed so far by both sides sets this political tussle apart from previous clashes between the street and the parliament. 'It has served as a good political education for the public,' says Gothom Arya, director of the research centre for peacebuilding at Bangkok’s Mahidol University. 'The televised peace talks has never been a feature before.'
'This was possible because both sides wanted to solve the problem within a political framework,' Gothom told IPS. 'There were openings for talks from both sides at some stage.'
Still, Thai history offers ominous reminders about how large anti- government political protests have ended. The first major demonstration in 1973 and a protest in 1992 — both against military dictatorships — ended in bloodshed after troops opened fire. Military coups have also taken place, such as when Thaksin’s elected government was forced from power in September 2006 following months of anti-Thaksin street protests.
© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service