The Nation August 4, 2000
PRIME Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday refused to
mediate in the dispute between the government and village protestors about
where the two parties should meet to thrash out their differences.
"The government negotiator and the villagers have
to work out a solution among themselves," he said. The two parties
yesterday remained deadlocked about where the televised negotiations
should take place. The government insists the state-run TV Channel 11 be
used for the peace talks, while the Assembly of the Poor - a core protest
leader - believes a university campus would be more suitable.
Government representative Amnuay Patise yesterday
maintained the television station was a suitable venue. But four protest
leaders, Pakdi Chanchajiard, Paijit Siralak, Watcharee Paoluengthong and
Uchen Chiangsen, have questioned the station's neutrality.
Pakdi also said the government wanted to limit the
number of people who could be present at the talks.
And the plight of the poor could not be highlighted in a
two-hour broadcast, he said. Both sides have already agreed on one point -
that they have equal time to present their positions. Nitirat Sapsomboon,
another protest leader, accused Police Special Branch Commissioner Yothin
Mathayomchan of trying to taint the image of the protesting villagers.
"Yothin's allegation that protesters hired students
to stage a hunger protest is an indication of his political ignorance and
mudslinging," Nitirat said.
Students had previously expressed their solidarity with
the villagers. To demonstrate solidarity with villagers, a group of
students staged a political satire, portraying the prime minister as
favouring the rich, while neglecting the poor.
Meanwhile, Assembly of the Poor adviser Luen Srisupo and
200 villagers yesterday marched to file a petition with His Majesty's
principal secretary requesting royal intervention in the reafforestation
project in Kalasin.
The villagers said the project had encroached on their
1,400 rai plot.
The reafforestation is being carried out in an area
demarcated as forest since 1996, but villagers say they have lived on the
land since 1972.
They maintain they have established a right to live
there.
