PM rejects proposals from Mara Patani insurgent

BANGKOK, September 11 (TNA) -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Thursday that he did not further upgrade the importance to peace negotiation with southern insurgency representatives as the Mara Patani group proposed because his government already treated it as a national agenda. It was time for both sides to prove they could trust each other and start to discuss common stances, Gen Prayut said. After chairing a meeting of the National Security Council, the prime minister said that he acknowledged results from the past few peace talks and both sides were at the stage of building mutual trust. “The government intends to solve problems. In the future, there will be a joint press conference after each meeting. Solutions must proceed, no matter whether they can progress quickly or slowly. In the meantime, groups with different stances must be united. The government is already united. Malaysia is needed as the facilitator. Muslim majority countries and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation understand and support the actions of Thailand,” the prime minister said. Authorities and representatives of groups with different stances would begin with discussing issues of common stances and after they built mutual trust, the peace process could progress to next steps that would be relieved degrees of law enforcement, justice facilitation, development and the promotion of Muslims’ cultures, Gen Prayut said. He pointed out that he would not accept any pressures for him to accept Mara Patani’s proposals. (TNA)