POLITICS OF RECONCILIATION
Democracy without liberty is illiberal democracy
- Published: 30/06/2010 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
It has been more than one month since the military operation to disperse protesters took place on the streets of Bangkok. Yet the state of emergency, which was declared at the time, still remains.
This is apparently in order to ensure that security is maintained across the country. The decree, which looks set to be extended next week, grants the prime minister some special powers, which may be regarded as excessive.
The state of emergency decree remains in place in Bangkok and 23 other provinces in the North and Northeast regarded as strategically important red-shirt political bases. Without an independent body to verify the necessity of maintaining such draconian power in the hands of politicians during a highly sensitive period, the decision whether to keep the law in place will be almost inevitably politicised.
The action could be aimed at staving off a potential new series of red-shirt protests, something that the government itself admits even though the reasoning can by all definition only be speculation. Worse, by hanging on to the "state of emergency," the government can find itself engaging in the dangerous game of "politics of fear".
It is understandable that many Bangkokians are worried about maintaining their personal safety and would resent future disruption to their lives, which occurred when the protesters shut down business areas in the capital. Accordingly, they are likely to accept whatever approach the government wants to take in order to keep Bangkok safe from "terrorism" or, in other words, from the red shirts.
Although PM Abhisit and his government do not explicitly accuse all the red shirts of being terrorists, his repeated use of the term can lead people, especially his supporters, to arrive at such a broad conclusion.
In the eyes of the rural population, this perception goes against, even undermines, the validity of the claim to have their voices heard in the political heartland of Bangkok and by the capital-based political elite.
With the broad terrorism paint brush, the red shirts now feel that they are subject to accusation by Mr Abhisit and the momentum is there to ensure that the political rhetoric in the media reflects this government's perspective.
The truth, however, is that almost any protest movement around the world throughout history would be subject to such an accusation, as it only takes a small minority of protesters to take extreme and possibly unjustified action, whether or not their convictions are sound.
Regardless of the extent to which this is the case within the protest movement active in Thailand today, a large part of the innocent but misunderstood rural people feel tarnished by the "terrorist" tag. They are troubled by this broad label, and this negative perspective which is widely held by the more privileged urban middle-class, will ultimately undermine any attempt at national reconciliation.
If there is anything the latest development in the history of political protest has shown us, it is that Thailand has proved itself incapable of ensuring the right of individuals and groups to protest freely and openly without fear of harassment by those who hold power.
Constitutionally speaking, the political or bureaucratic office holders do so on behalf of the people, namely those they represent. Any abuse of this power is contrary to the concept of "liberal democracy" which, as leading scholar of democratisation Larry Diamond explained, "provides, by definition, comparatively good protection for human rights". Accordingly, suppressing the ability of the red shirts to express their constitutional rights is no way to end the schism, which has continued to divide Thailand these last few years.
During his remarks at the May 29 briefing with members of the diplomatic corps and journalists regarding the military's attempt to retake Ratchaprasong, PM Abhisit stated that "we wanted to solve everything through democratic means". However, his emphasis on endorsing democracy and the rule of law appears to contradict some of the approaches that the government has actually adopted. For instance, freedom of speech and expression is extremely limited for those who support the red shirts, especially in relation to the use of the Internet.
Since the Bangkok protests of 2010, restrictions and monitoring of websites have been at a high level, resulting in the closure of certain websites viewed as being supportive of the red cause.
These actions would be considered a violation of civil liberties in a liberal democratic society, and in the context of "liberal democracy", reconciliation and unity can only be achieved when fundamental rights are guaranteed while differences and disagreements are accepted.
By continuing to alienate and suppress the red shirts and by presuming that they merely act as proxies for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the government can only prolong and deepen Thailand's political divide. Indeed, Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker argued that: "This thinking is a way of avoiding questions about what has been happening in Thai society over the past generation, a way of plugging one's own eyes and ears. But it leads nowhere - or to another May 19, sooner or later."
Accordingly, the people of Thailand and their representative government will at some stage have to make a choice. There is a "proto-democracy", which purports to represent the collective desire of its people but which lacks a true mandate to govern, and is in essence, an "illiberal democracy".
Or we have to move towards a fully-fledged democracy, which can rightly claim for itself the title of "liberal democracy" and can only be realised when every player sticks to the rules of constitutional law and the judiciary maintains its non-discriminatory standard.
Thailand needs to avoid the paradoxical situation described by Fareed Zakaria, an international politics commentator, in which "democracy is flourishing, liberty is not".
- Titipol Phakdeeawanich is with the Faculty of Political Science, Ubon Ratchathani University.