STOPPAGE TIME

STOPPAGE TIME
Clear the 'third hurdle' and haul us out of crisis
When you return to this column next week, a lot of things will have changed in Thailand, drastically perhaps.

Published on December 19, 2007


It has been a long roller-coaster ride and yet the results of Sunday's election will set us off on another round of scary plunges and thrilling surges. Samak Sundaravej as PM would be both fun and extremely precarious. Abhisit Vejjajiva, on the other hand, could be refreshing at first, but get ready for depressing coalition politics that could be as short-lived as they come.

But at least we are trying. Blindly or not doesn't matter. We are making another shot at democracy in our own imperfect and sometimes suicidal way. With corrupt politicians roaming and opportunistic generals lurking, there are a lot of stories left to be told. Divided and at each other's throats, the nation is making yet another effort to achieve that elusive thing called democracy.

We all want to move on, and Samak will represent a new acid test. Like him or loathe him, the democracy we are looking for dictates that the PPP leader shall be granted every opportunity to form a government if the PPP wins a landslide victory. Like Chatichai Choonhavan, Chuan Leekpai, Banharn Silapa-archa, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and Thaksin Shinawatra before him, Samak deserves a chance to prove his worth if our system picks him for the top job.

Thailand will clear the first hurdle if Samak and Co are accorded fair play. And if he becomes prime minister, the second hurdle is there for the man and nobody else. How he takes electoral "legitimacy" and uses it will determine how far the recovery of Thai democracy will go. Samak's rise to power will only mean half the job done - the acceptance of the voice of the majority. The other half - making everyone accountable to the rule of law - is just as crucial and it will be largely up to Samak whether our democracy will be completed, or flawed in the same old ways and sent back to square one.

The third hurdle is there for you and me. Political faith is like blind loyalty in sports, only much worse, because soccer players surely don't want fans to kill each other, but politicians do. Thai political rivals have broken apart families and left countless friendships in ruins. They make you want to shoot people who you don't even know. The cab driver is so nice and friendly until he sings Thaksin's praises. A hard-working colleague becomes an idiot the minute he defends the Council for National Security.

Are Thais so different when it comes to good and bad? Maybe, but perhaps this is not the real cause for concern. Democracy allows us to differ, to have varying opinions when deciding what is best for our country. Maybe our problem is not the divisive Thaksin-or-tanks question. Maybe our crisis has more to do with our inability to solve ideological conflicts without spawning hatred and fear.

We may have opposing opinions on whether Thaksin's allegedly uncontrolled graft or military interference was the root cause of the political crisis, but this could have been a constructive difference. A nation that has two big forces - one keeping its eyes on corruption and the other keeping military opportunism in check - is supposed to be lucky. Both forces should have combined and formed the genuine spirit of our democracy. Instead, they have been exploited, more or less, and pitted against each other.

True democracy can't thrive on pure hatred. We can debate values but once we abhor a fellow human being, who either supports the generals or likes Thaksin, it's time to look at ourselves in the mirror. As long as pro-Thaksin voters are deemed blind fools or coup advocates are called the scum of the earth, real democracy will remain as elusive as ever, because such extremism is exactly what the political enemies want to see happening to advance their goals.

In a few days, a lot of things will change. The challenge is to change one thing that otherwise won't. And maybe if we learn to do away with the acrimonious "us and them" mentality, to accept why our neighbour chose the coup over corruption and to understand a colleague who is staunchly pro-Thaksin, the rest will take care of itself.

Tulsathit Taptim

The Nation