Poll a 'chance to bring about new social order'
Thailand needs to re-negotiate its social contract and this cannot be imposed from the top but negotiated in an all inclusive and rule-based deliberation process, said Marc Saxer, Thailand director for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation.
Saxer, who wrote an analysis paper on the future of Thai politics released yesterday, said Thai politics, which is still largely determined by "traditional power structures" behind facades, are being increasingly undermined by socio-economic development. However, democratic mechanisms are not yet powerful enough to satisfy the growing expectations of society.
Saxer, who wrote an analysis paper on the future of Thai politics released yesterday, said Thai politics, which is still largely determined by "traditional power structures" behind facades, are being increasingly undermined by socio-economic development. However, democratic mechanisms are not yet powerful enough to satisfy the growing expectations of society.
Sunday's general election, Saxer said, opens a window of opportunity for competing elites to strike a deal; a political stalemate has occurred since the 2006 coup. He pointed out that the support of the majority of the population, or at least their silent consent, is now needed to legitimise any future government. At the same time, new economic elites and a broader middle class depend to a much lesser degree on the patronage of traditional elites.
One major challenge is how the new emerging political culture can accept plurality in politics and identities.
"Today, the traditional resentments of the North and the Northeast against Bangkok are reflected in the red movement. But even in the centre, the diversification of ways of life creates a plurality of identities and value communities. Myriads of subcultures co-exist in the metropolis of Bangkok. Gender relations are beginning to change, and a broad spectrum of sexual identities is being embraced in the open. Consumerism and the ethics of globalised capitalism are contradictory to the widespread rediscovery of Buddhist traditions and ways of life. Dealing with this plurality is a challenge for Thailand's political culture."
Saxer concluded that the current political crisis can only be understood by recognising the underlying legitimacy crisis of the political, social and cultural order.
"The crisis goes well beyond the failure of individuals or institutions, but rather the centralist, semi-authoritarian governance system, the vertical social hierarchy and the unified political culture are no longer able to deal with the complexity, plurality and conflict of Thai economy and society," Saxer concluded.
Saxer adds that Thais need not feel fatalistic about the situation. "The vitality of social movements, an alternative media, the courage of civil society and the expertise of academia shows clearly that the country has already changed much more profoundly than many elites like to acknowledge."
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