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The Thais need to learn from Indonesia's democracy
THAILAND is in trouble. Deeper trouble than the prospect of the army using deadly force to clear protesters from the streets of Bangkok. Worse trouble than the impasse between the appointed government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Red Shirt protest movement over a date for the next election. The Red Shirts want an immediate election. Conservatives fear a vote at any time that might deliver government to supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. And the supporters of the status quo are quite capable of using their own private army, the Yellow Shirts, to stop political change. They occupied Bangkok airport for two months in 2008. But these disputes are only illustrations of Thailand's real problem - a widespread loss of trust in democracy and the rule of law.
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That the arguments of both sides are easy to understand does not make them any more acceptable. Conservatives claim Mr Thaksin is corrupt, but the elite in Bangkok, used to using the military, judiciary and civil service to control the country, hated the way he politicised the provinces with share-the-wealth schemes, notably his universal healthcare program. For Mr Abhisit's backers, the protest movement is little more than a peasants' revolt. For the Red Shirt movement, which now seems much more than Mr Thaksin's militia, the dispute is over whose will should prevail in politics. Certainly politicians close to Mr Thaksin have won legitimate elections since he left office, only to be turned out of power by the courts and the army. And nobody ever voted Mr Abhisit into office. However, the Red Shirts have rejected the Prime Minister's proposal for November elections and are all but inviting the army to fight them for control of the streets.
Thailand's problems will not be solved by an election that the Red Shirts win only to then wreak revenge on their enemies, or by continuing army-backed conservative rule. What the country needs is universal respect for a popular vote and a determination to keep the judges and generals out of politics. If the Thais think that cannot be done, they should consider Indonesia, where a vibrant democracy based on free elections exists just 12 years after the end of the Suharto dictatorship. All of Thailand's political players must put the national interest first and give democracy a go.
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