Hun Xen labeled FALSE DEMOCRAT by the Globe and Mail

Hun Xen (Photo: Reuters)

Friday, Jun. 08 2012
Mark MacKinnon
Beijing — The Globe and Mail
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/a-21st-century-checklist-of-the-new-autocrats/article4243069/#gallery_4048=slide_4243547

False democrats

-Club members: Russian President Vladimir Putin; Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas; Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak; Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika; Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi; Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

-Ex-members: Slobodan Milosevic; Hosni Mubarak

-Key characteristics: They hold elections but have no intention of giving up power. Serious political rivals are jailed and their parties are outlawed on legal technicalities. Mr. Putin’s spin doctors call it “managed democracy” – giving voters the appearance of choice while ensuring they have very little to choose from on election day.

-Reason for hope: Because they allow the trappings of democracy – opposition parties, some independent media, the very process of going through an election every few years – these false democracies create the possibility of change. Mr. Milosevic and Mr. Mubarak were ousted because citizens used the political space allowed them in a false democracy. Russia’s opposition has similarly been on the advance over the past seven months. The next election in Malaysia promises to be interesting.

-Reason for despair: False democracies give the impression of being freer than they really are, which means they rarely face the kind of international pressure that the really nasty regimes get.