Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's acknowledgement that he is a politician will not affect the national reconciliation process, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said Monday.
Gen Prawit said the premier's remark was irrelevant to his own work of plotting a path to achieve national unity by the end of the year.
He said that process includes raising public awareness of the "social contract for unity" document and had nothing to do with the upcoming general election.
Gen Prawit said it was about helping the people to live peacefully and free of conflict.
When asked about the relationship between the peace-building process and politics, given that Gen Prayut admitted for the first time last week that he was a politician, he said.
"That is the prime minister's matter. My matter is to proceed with national reconciliation and has nothing to do with his. His remark won't affect the work.
"We have to increase public awareness about peaceful living and non-divisiveness. We'll send officials to discourage colour-code politics. We do not want the red or yellow divisions of the past," Gen Prawit said.
Gen Prawit yesterday chaired a meeting with heads of the military and various agencies to discuss progress ahead of the planned elections.
The participants included Deputy Defence Minister Gen Chaichan Changmongkol, defence permanent secretary Gen Theppong Thippayachan, army chief Chalermchai Sitthisad and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai.
In September last year the government publicised the "social contract for unity" which was intended to form a framework for peaceful coexistence in the future.
The document was drawn up from public forums around the country to gather ideas from various groups, previous studies on reconciliation efforts and lessons learned from past conflicts.
Defence spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said yesterday the meeting agreed the government would have to work closely with the public to achieve the goal of unity and peaceful coexistence under the rule of law. It could not do the job alone.
He said authorities would engage more closely with the public, with the Interior Ministry set to dispatch teams to educate local communities about the social contract, democratic principles and the sufficiency economy theory.
He noted the Internal Security Operations Command will be a crucial mechanism in driving the awareness campaign with provincial governors being key actors.
Lt Gen Kongcheep said various ministries are also expected to incorporate the core elements from the social contract into their development plans and programmes.
He added that elections and national reconciliation are separate issues because the latter is more focused on educating the public.
"If [those involved in] politics don't want to reconcile, let them be. We are focusing on public awareness.
"If national reconciliation is achieved, it will lead to an environment conducive to elections and a transition to democracy without conflict," he said.
