Democracy and political change in ASEAN

Many see this amendment as a move in the right direction, but liberal groups argue that Cambodia will invariably end up a one-party state, that a dominant CPP will become insufferable, that human rights will be further assaulted and that there would be greater authoritarianism. This debate is inevitable, though it is not without cause. The CPP will need to be proactive in reaching out to concerned groups in his country and in sending the right signals to the international community.

There will be local elections in April 2007 and General Elections the year after, both of which the CPP is expected to win handsomely. It will then be in complete charge of the government for the first time since 1993, and will have the opportunity to present its vision for Cambodia.

With these changes taking place in the neighbourhood, it may be instructive to recall another occasion when Bernard Lewis famously argued that democracy came in many different forms. He said, "I think we should also shed the illusion that democracy is the natural, normal human condition and that any deviation from it is either a disease to be cured or a crime to be punished. It isn't. For most of human history, most of the world could get along without democracy. Even where democracy does come, it doesn't have to be our kind."

Unfashionable as this may sound, there is merit there and ought to go down well in the neighbourhood and no doubt, in many other countries.