Three notable events have boosted the democratic process in Southeast Asia in recent decades. The fall of the Marcos regime in 1986, the Reformasi that shifted Indonesian politics in the late 1990s, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s victory over the military junta in Myanmar. However, today Marcos’ son is president of the Philippines, Indonesian presidential candidates want to centralize power again, and Myanmar is embroiled in an armed conflict.
What is going on in the region, and what does this mean for democracy?
Countries like Cambodia or Thailand seem to ignore basic democratic rules. For economic reasons, they are trying to placate the West, but at the other end of the spectrum, Beijing is beckoning.
China has been able to drastically reduce poverty rates in only a few decade’s time, without having to organize these fearsome elections. The dogma that you need a multi-party system to be a prosperous country seems to be false. Then why should Southeast Asian regimes care about it?
Moreover, the state leaders hardly notice any disapproval from their neighbours. There is the loose-tight partnership ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). But the ten member states basically do not interfere in each other’s domestic politics, to avoid being criticised for their own human rights violations.
