A day after imposing martial law, Thailand’s army chief on Wednesday convened the first face-to-face meeting of all stakeholders to end the prolonged political turmoil plaguing the nation and avoid another “Ukraine or Egypt” in the making.
Army Chief General Prayut Chan-O-Cha assumed the role of a crisis mediator as he chaired the meeting in Bangkok, that had a noticeably lesser military presence than on Tuesday.Top officials of the ruling and opposition parties, Election Commission (EC) members and senators besides leaders of the pro- and anti-Government protest camps met for over two hours even as caretaker Prime Minister Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan was conspicuous by his absence.
Five top Government Ministers represented the interim Premier during the meeting.However, the meeting ended without any breakthrough, underlining the tough challenge the army faces in trying to end the country’s crisis, even as another meeting was called for Thursday.