Shun populism in campaigns, seminar told

Asian countries gearing towards elections must avoid populism in order to ensure the long-term prosperity of their nations, a seminar was told yesterday.

Stithorn Thananithichot, senior researcher at King Prachadhipok’s Institute, said in the short term, populist policies might seem to answer people’s needs.

Yet in the long run, those “appeasing measures” would make people at the receiving end overly reliant on authorities’ help, he said.

“The downside is populist policies will benefit only some people at the expense of others,” Mr Stithorn said at the international forum “Election 2018/9: What does it mean for Asia?”.

“With that, conflict will always happen and the effect of populism will be deeply entrenched in society.”

The forum was held to address the rise of populism in the world political landscape, especially Asia. Populist policies are expected to become a centrepiece of political campaigns for countries in this region such as Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Mr Stithorn said Thailand would be a showcase as populist policies have been part of political campaigns for parties both old and new.

“In Thailand, we still see the gap between the rich and the poor and the gap has become wider and wider. Knowing this, political parties use populist policies to exploit the people,” he said.

He suggested one way to get rid of populism is to embrace the i dea of inclusiveness.

“An elected government needs to be responsive to people from all sectors and work through the process of public consultation when making public decisions,” he said.

Kingsley Abbott, a senior legal adviser to the International Commission of Jurists, said to achieve real inclusiveness Thailand, which is expected to hold national elections early next year, should lift the ban that prohibits the assembly of five or more people to create a conducive environment for fruitful political discussion to take place.

“People can get together and discuss these matters so that an election can take place and people can register a vote that has true meaning,” Mr Abbott said.

Veteran Thai diplomat, Kobsak Chutikul, however, said an election is just a basic right of citizens to vote and it should not be burdened by other democratic concepts such as human rights and freedom of expression, since making such conditions will have an effect on when and how elections can occur.

“It’s just about the people to go and have a say that I want this! I want someone to represent me! And not to have only a group of people having a say about the people. That’s what the election is all about,” said Mr Kobsak, a former adviser to the United Nations.

The important thing, he said, is that Thai society should not fall into the trap of “good and bad” people.