More calls for national unity govt

The meeting, which discussed whether or not Thai democracy would survive, also said Samak Sundaravej should not return as prime minister as he had already been disqualified by the Constitution Court earlier this week and his return could lead to more political confrontation.

Assoc Prof Pornphan Vatjitphan, president of the council of lecturers at Chulalongkorn University, said politicians are selfish and think of themselves more than about the public good, while Thai society worships them because they have money which brings about power.

He urged the ruling coalition to take responsibility and make a sacrifice by not electing "bad people" as the new premier, and certainly not re-electing Samak.

Pornphan also urged the silent majority to defend what was right and not try to stay aloof by refusing to take sides.

Human-rights activist and NGO leader Pairoj Pholpetch urged both sides to stop using the media as a propaganda tool to spread mutual hatred. He urged the coalition parties to respect the Constitution Court's ruling on Samak and called on leaders of the anti-government People Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to surrender themselves to police in order to fight legal charges against them, which include charges of treason.

A political reform committee, said Pairoj, should be set up by the Parliament in order to launch another round of reform.

Chulalongkorn University security expert Patitharn Wattanayakorn said the ruling party should no longer cite the mandate given by the voters, as what is needed now is moral and ethical leaders and a government which can ensure that all social classes would be served.

Suthichai Iamcharoen, representative of the Social Venture Network, a business group for corporate social responsibility, supported the idea of a national unity government and urged the ruling coalition to do more than just appoint a different prime minister. He also urged the "silent majority" to be courageous in expressing their views in a peaceful manner.

Economist Teeron Pongmakhanpan of Chulalongkorn University said democracy was getting worse and worse with each new election, while the PAD is also weakening. He urged the government to immediately lift the state of emergency and also withdraw treason charges against PAD leaders as well as form a national unity government.

Meanwhile, King Pradhipok's Institute deputy secretary-general Wuthisan Tanchai said a national unity government could be a solution to the ongoing crisis.

"This solution is also in line with the Constitution, which does not require opposition MPs," he said.

However, he recommended that a national unity government, if formed, should clearly announce that it would serve for just one year, during which time it would solve urgent problems such as the Preah Vihear temple controversy.

Wuthisan believed a former premier like Chart Thai Party leader Banharn Sinlapa-archa or Democrat Party chief adviser Chuan Leekpai could be the leader of a unity government.

However, Chiang Mai University president Pongsak Angkasith believed it was unlikely that a national unity government would ever be established.

"To implement this idea, all political parties have to sacrifice a lot," he said.

Commenting on news reports that Samak might make a comeback as the government leader, Pongsak said People Power Party MPs should make a careful decision based on the national interest.

"Samak is not the right choice from the point of view of ethics and political legitimacy," the university president said.

In addition, five medical from Chulalongkorn University, Khon Kaen University, Ramathibodi Hospital, Prince of Songkhla University and Srinagarindra University, said they were against Samak's return because a country's leader should not be facing legal cases.

"Samak was sentenced to jail but claimed that the case is not final. A country leader is supposed to have high ethics,'' the statement read. "We are teachers of doctors and we feel uneasy to teach our medical students to have ethics because our country leader lacks ethics.''

The institutes also urged the House not to bring the present Cabinet back to power because they have committed constitutional offences over the Preah Vihear Temple controversy.

They called on House members to use their conscience and their moral judgement to bring the country out of the political crisis.