That bumpy ride called democracy

OVER two decades ago, “people power” became a buzzphrase for emerging democracies when the Philippines ousted the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Today in Thailand, the phrase has again caught fire, with months of anti-government protests finally leading recently to the ouster of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

Oddly enough, Samak belongs to a political group called People Power Party (PPP), although his supporters favor the color red, which was worn by Marcos loyalists. The anti-government rallyists, meanwhile, sport yellow, which happens to be the unofficial Filipino color of protest.

As Thailand prepares to vote a new prime minister into office on 17 September, Johanna Son, a Filipino journalist based in Bangkok and director of Inter Press Service Asia-Pacific, notes how, despite their fairly different histories and cultures, the Philippines and Thailand have wound up with similar political experiences. In a special Perspectives piece, Son comments on the Thai and Filipino journeys to democracy that have been marked by detours, divisiveness, and bad directions.

Read on at pcij.org.