Southeast Asia in the wind of change
AS SOUTHEAST Asian nations navigated geo-political changes over the past half-century, the status quo has been maintained in the ruling structures and the elites continue to play a leading role in their societies.
A research study by Chulalongkorn University’s Mekong Studies Centre has found that the elites – a tiny group of people who control the power and wealth of a nation – in the countries of this region continue to resist the winds of change.
The team of researchers led by the scholar and centre head, Ukrist Pathmanand, spent 2018-2019 studying the politics of the elites in Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam. They found the nature of the regional elites in general, along with their approach to governance, to be authoritarian – and that they will use all available means to retain their power.
The terms oligarchy and crony capitalism are appropriate for describing the politics of these countries. They all have elections, but tended to pervert the polls to justify their perpetuation of power, as we’ve recently seen in Cambodia and Thailand.
Crony capitalism is a model of economic development in which networks of big national conglomerates cooperate with the powers that be to exploit national wealth for their mutual benefit. Development of these countries could progress more smoothly if the oligarchic elite compromised their self-interest.
Reforms in Vietnam since the 1986 Doi Moi Renovation has created a new elite from the resulting business boom. Some of the nouveau riche of Vietnam were indeed born from the privatisation of state-owned enterprises. However, some of the Vietnamese billionaires such as the executives of “bikini” airline VietJet accumulated their wealth due to their strong connections within the ruling party, according to the study.
In Laos, family politics has dominated the country since the communist regime liberated it in 1975. Power and wealth in the tiny, communist country are circulated only within a few elite families in the ruling party. The children of the party’s leaders run most of the major businesses in Laos.
Cambodia’s ex-insurgent Hun Sen, the longest serving prime minister in this region, is a role model who has inspired the elite in many countries to follow in his footsteps. Hun Sen and his cronies have monopolised power and wealth in the country since he managed to get rid of his opposition in the royalist Funcinpec late last century, as well as Sam Rainsy’s Cambodia National Rescue Party more recently. His Cambodian’s People Party managed to control 100 per cent of the House of Representatives after the last poll in 2018.
Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election, yet failed to bring significant change to Myanmar as the Tatmadaw (military) maintained its power by embedding itself in the constitution. Military cronies made the most of the minor liberalisation and foreign investment moves. Civil society there is growing but does not yet play a significant role.
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir Mohamad returned to power in Malaysia in April 2018, toppling his former party, the United Malays National Organisation, which had ruled the country since its independence in the middle of the 20th century. But despite promises, Mahathir was not serious about reform, the research indicated, seeing the return of his cronies.
Real reform has been seen in Indonesia over the past two decades after the Asian financial crisis brought down the Suharto regime in 1998. That reform kept the military away from politics and decentralised power to the local level, Ukrist’s team of researchers found.