MARA Patani Rep Describes Peace Talks Progress As "Surprisingly Encouraging"

By Mohd Haikal Mohd Isa BANGKOK, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- A respresentative of MARA Patani (Patani Consultative Council) has described the progress of the informal southern Thailand peace talks with the Thai government as "surprisingly encouraging". According to Dr Abu Hafez al-Hakim, encouraging results were achieved despite the slower pace of the progress and scepticism towards the idea of "talking peace" with the military-backed government. "While many are sceptical about the idea of 'talking peace' with the military-backed regime, it was found that the dialogue process moved, though at a slower pace, and the progress is surprisingly encouraging," he said when tabling a working paper on the peace process via "Skype" in Pattani on Wednesday. The working paper was presented during an international conference on Political Transition, Non-violence and Communication in Conflict Transformation at Prince of Songkla University. Abu Hafez who is also recognised as the spokesman for MARA Patani, said there were not many interferences or external factors thus far, which could hinder the meeting's schedules. "With absolute power, the Thai military government through its Dialogue Panel is straightforward in stating what it can and cannot deliver," he said. MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing several southern Thai groups, had been holding several rounds of informal peace talks with the Thai government which were facilitated by the Malaysian government. The latest round of the southern Thailand peace talks was held in Kuala Lumpur last month. Abu Hafez said that in any peace process, reciprocal respect and sound diplomacy were important if both parties were sincere and wanting to succeed. He urged the related parties in the peace process to cooperate and not to hinder, be open-minded, flexible and not narrow-minded, besides having a "need for compromise and conciliation, not unyielding and confrontational". "Explore each other's needs and concerns, working together for the best possible way to accomplish peace that is just, comprehensive and sustainable for the people of Patani, regardless of their ethinicity, religion or class they belong to." He further said: "As far as MARA Patani is concerned, the expected outcome from talks with the Thai government is to consolidate the peace process through preparation and implementation of Safety Zones (SZ). "This is because the military is the real authority of security and safety while the remaining issues of development, justice, administration, education and others will be discussed with the future elected government of Thailand." The Thai military government which seized power in 2014, is expected to hold a general election by the end of this year. The MARA Patani representative also said that the Joint Technical Teams (JTT) from the body and Thai government were scheduled to meet again to complete the Framework on SZ. He anticipated the Framework on SZ would only be ready to be endorsed by the Joint Working Group-Peace Dialogue Process in the first quarter of this year, before the SZ is implemented in the mutually-agreed areas as a trial. --BERNAMA