In his quest to explore Asia’s ascendancy in the wake of the so-called Fourth Wave of Democratization, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim shared his thoughts on the state of democracy in Asia in a lecture held at University of the Philippines, Diliman last January 29 organized by the Institut Kajian Dasar and Japan-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation in cooperation with the UP College of Law.
Dubbed as “ASIAN REINAISSANCE AND THE FOURTH WAVE OF DEMOCRATIZATION” the lecture was attended by students coming from different universities, law professors, media, and members of civil society organizations in the Philippines.
In his quest to explore Asia’s ascendancy in the wake of the so-called Fourth Wave of Democratization, former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim shared his thoughts on the state of democracy in Asia in a lecture held at University of the Philippines, Diliman last January 29 organized by the Institut Kajian Dasar and Japan-based Sasakawa Peace Foundation in cooperation with the UP College of Law.
Dubbed as “ASIAN REINAISSANCE AND THE FOURTH WAVE OF DEMOCRATIZATION” the lecture was attended by students coming from different universities, law professors, media, and members of civil society organizations in the Philippines.
The Fourth Wave of Democratization was coined after publication of political theorist Samuel Huntington’s “The Third Wave,” which posited that previous moments of democratic regime change took place in clusters.
Ibrahim said that those who seek genuine democracy should “go back” to the writings and teachings of Dr. Jose Rizal—the national hero of the Philippines whom Ibrahim considers an Asian reinaissance man.
Ibrahim reasserted the need for states to protect and promote civil liberties and human rights being guaranteed by existing international laws. He added, “in countries where democrats enjoyed a decisive power advantage, democracy emerged while in countries in which dictators maintained a decisive power advantage, dictatorship emerged.”
“Diversity” according to Ibrahim should become a source of richness rather than conflicts adding that protection of minorities should not be infringed.
During the open forum, Ibrahim shared his thoughts on the upcoming Philippine national elections expressing high hopes for it to be free, fair and transparent. He then urged the people to become more vigilant in monitoring the elections and likewise suggested to invite representatives from ASEAN countries as poll observers.
Members of the Free Burma Coalition Philippines (FBC-Phils) and Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) Democratization Program also attended the forum with the hope of getting Anwar Ibrahim’s position as a staunch democracy leader in Asia on the continuing political crisis in Burma. When asked by an FBC-Phils member about Burma’s state of democracy and the ASEAN’s constructive engagement policy, Ibrahim in a satirical response explained, “the problem with Burma is that there is no real engagement. Interest groups and businesses only conduct meetings with the military regime about “construction” (obviously referring to dams and pipeline projects in Burma) but not so much on political engagement.”
At the end of his speech, Ibrahim stressed the need for more civil society engagement in the region on the issues of human rights and governance to secure the gains of the struggles for democracy in the past.###
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