November 26-29, 2009
Democracy’s Struggle in Asia:
Asian Liberals Discuss Current Challenges Facing Democracies
Democracy has had an impressive run in Asia since 1986. Ferdinand
Marcos, the dictator of the Philippines, was toppled by a non
violent revolution led by Corazon “Cory“Aquino. Other
democratic revolutions followed in places such as Thailand, Taiwan
and South Korea. Lastly, Indonesia’s dictator Suharto was
toppled in the course of the Asian crisis in 1998. Democracy’s
march seemed unstoppable.
In retrospect, the toppling of the Suharto regime looked like the
high water mark of the democracy wave. In 2001, Philippine President
Joseph Estrada was toppled by a second non-violent revolution due
to corruption scandals. His successor Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is
now also dogged by allegations of
corruption and electoral
fraud. In Thailand, Billionaire-turned-politician Thaksin
Shinawatra used his democratic mandate
to undermine institutions
of the rule of law and was removed from office by a military
coup. In South Korea, the party system is in a
constant
state of flux. Taiwan has seen worrying developments in
the field of the rule of law. Moreover,
religious fundamentalism
poses an additional problem for democracy in several Asian
countries.
In view of these challenges, the
Council
of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), with the support of
the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty, held a general assembly
to discuss these threats to democracy from 26 -29 November 2009
in Manila.
Participants first spent the day learning and discussing about
the situation in the Philippines, especially in the light of the
23 November politically motivated massacre in Mindanao. The next
focus was the situation in Indonesia, an example of democratic
progress. Democracy seems to have stabilized, and fundamentalist
Islamic parties have experienced a setback. On the other hand,
the analysis of the situation in Burma and Cambodia yielded a
more mixed picture. In Burma, the opposition is faced with the
difficult dilemma of whether or not to participate in next year’s
election under a constitution crafted by the military
junta. In Cambodia, the government majority in parliament
has revoked the immunity of three opposition
members so that it could prosecute them.
Participants also looked at
how to deal with populism and
political opportunism. This
continues to be a challenge
for most parties.
Political reality, especially
coupled with
dysfunctional political systems, often
forces parties into some
compromises if they want
to succeed at the polls.
Ideological purity will
usually mean a permanent status as
opposition,
with no chance to initiate reform.
Too many compromises,
however,
endanger the very rationale of a party
that is supposed to offer people a choice based on principles.
The last part of the meeting was devoted to discussing its work
plan for next year. Participants decided to hand over the CALD
chairmanship from the Singapore Democratic
Party to the Liberal
Party of Sri Lanka at next year’s executive committee
meeting.
After being an observer party for several years, the Partai
Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle) also formally joined CALD. CALD benefits from this
addition to its ranks from the largest country in Southeast Asia.
