Weird times in Thailand, Malaysia – but democracy is working

Source globeandmail

by Marcus Gee

In Thailand, a court orders the prime minister to step down because he appeared on a TV cooking show. In Malaysia, an opposition leader threatening to bring down the government is accused, for a second time, of sodomy.

These are weird times in Asian politics. The wave of democratization that swept through the region in the 1980s and 1990s has given way to eddies of confusion and turmoil.

From Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, besieged governments and angry citizens are the order of the day. It is tempting to conclude that Asians simply aren't ready for "Western-style" democracy.

A popular school of thought argues that traditional "Asian values" - a Confucian deference to authority, love of order and preference for consensus over open dispute - make Asians unwilling players of the competitive gamesmanship of democratic politics.

Recent events show the opposite. Asians, it turns out, take to democracy like birds to sky. The uproar of recent months is proof not that Asian democracy is failing but that Asians are embracing it as their own. A democracy is often a noisy, messy thing. In Asia these days, you can feel the sound and fury.

In Thailand, political conflict has been raging for three years. Twice elected prime minister, flamboyant businessman Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown by the Thai military in 2006 amid allegations of tax evasion, authoritarianism and human-rights abuses. He went into exile in England, returned, then fled again to escape corruption charges.

His party won the largest number of votes in an election last December after the end of military rule. A pro-Thaksin government took office under Samak Sundaravej. He was forced to resign last week when a court said he had accepted payments for appearing on a cooking show, breaking a law against taking other paid work while holding office. In the latest twist, parliament has elected a new PM: none other than Mr. Thaksin's brother-in-law, Somchai Wongsawat.

That means more conflict for Thailand. Anti-Thaksin protesters have been occupying the government compound in Bangkok for weeks. Composed partly of liberals upset over Mr. Thaksin's high-handed rule, they are led by a cabal of generals, royalists and businessmen who want to turn back the clock and establish a managed democracy where the king and the army could step in to check the abuses of a populist such as Mr. Thaksin.

That is not likely to happen. Thailand's latest experiment with military rule was ineffective. Mr. Thaksin and his supporters have the backing of Thailand's rural poor, who appreciate him for introducing cheap health care and credit. So Thailand's democracy is troubled, but it's likely no more than growing pains - the result of a system, less than two decades old, where the institutions of democratic rule are still taking root.

Malaysian democracy is also a work in progress. One party has ruled continuously since independence from Britain in 1957. Now a popular politician, Anwar Ibrahim, is threatening to upset the mango cart. Once deputy prime minister, Mr. Anwar was clapped in irons in 1998 on charges of corruption and sodomy (still a crime in officially Islamic Malaysia). He spent six years behind bars.

Now back in politics, he is trying to topple the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition by luring government legislators to his flag. If he succeeds, it will be a historic moment for Malaysia, an evolution from one-party rule to a system where parties alternate in power.

Mr. Anwar has promised to abolish the system of special economic breaks for the country's biggest ethnic group, the Malays; to free all political prisoners; and to abolish the notorious Internal Security Act.

The government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is lashing back, using the security act to detain a reporter, a blogger and an opposition legislator. Meantime, Mr. Anwar has again been accused of sodomy, this time based on accusations by a young aide who, by coincidence, happened to meet Mr. Badawi's second-in-command. Polls show most people think the charges are just mudslinging.

The events in Thailand and Malaysia are unsettling, and things could get worse before they get better. But the current tumult clearly doesn't spring from an incompatibility between Asians and democracy. Given a chance, Asians adopt it as readily as anyone. They just need time to get it right.