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[ramyint@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

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I wonder how Mr. Ramos can say that "replacing an authoritarian regime is
relatively easy" when history has shown that it takes great suffering,
courage and great personal risk for people power to ultimately triumph.
Sure, the change is always dificult, evident in the case of post communist
Russia and transitional Indonesia. I personally maintain that the worst
democracy is better than the best dictatorship.

Richard A. Myint.



suriya wrote:

>                      a s i a w e e k  m i l l e n n i u m  s p e c i a l
>
>           CHALLENGE TO THE FREE
>
> Ending repression was easy; now we must defend freedom
>
>                              By Fidel V. Ramos
>
> OVER THE NEXT 20 years, Asia's weight in the world will
> increase as its economies emerge from financial crisis and its
> political systems become more people-empowered. In 1992 the
> World Bank had projected that by 2020, six Asian economies would
> be among the 10 largest in the world. Just now, this expectation seems
> hopelessly optimistic. Yet, Asia's fundamentals remain sound, and I,
> for one, believe it is likely to become a power- house of economic
> vigor once again.
>
> Meanwhile, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand have shed generations
> of military rule. Indonesia has just held its first free election in 44
> years. Even in China, the "softening" of totalitarianism seems well
> along. In Beijing and the provinces, distinct power centers are
> emerging whose interplay impinge more and more on the making of
> public policy. A greater diversity of political interests seems
> unavoidable in China's future ñ and its rulers realize it. That is why
> they are suppressing individual dissent so firmly.
>
> Replacing authoritarian regimes with representative systems was
> relatively easy. But the rule of the people does not necessarily mean
> good government. While democracy's trappings ñ elections,
> parliaments, free newspapers, independent judiciaries ñ are easy to
> assemble, making them work properly for common people requires a
> long learning process. In a society of "big people" and "small
> people," the common folk often have extravagant expectations of
> government. Thus, a 1993 survey found 85% of Filipino respondents
> saying it is government's obligation to provide jobs for everyone; and
> 84% saying it is the state's task to provide a decent income for all.
>
> It appears that democracy develops best where it develops
> incrementally ñ with gradual but consistent reforms in the political
> and civic landscape instigated by economic change. In the West,
> electorates were enfranchised gradually. It took the British almost 150
> years to develop a middle-class Parliament. By contrast, the advent of
> democracy in the Third World has been telescoped. In relative terms,
> Asian politics is still where Britain was when rotten boroughs were
> bought and sold. Consider how complicated just counting and
> validating the returns for last June's parliamentary elections has
> proved to be in Indonesia.
>
> I see making democracy work for the benefit of ordinary people as
> Asia's biggest challenge over the next 20 years. Fortunately,
> democracy has become part of the spirit of the new millennium. Even
> authoritarian regimes claim they are acting on behalf of their captive
> peoples. And, even more fortunately, there are outside forces to shore
> up Asian democracy where it falters. Foremost among these is the
> market system, which has changed East Asia dramatically over the
> last two decades. Open markets have not merely brought faster and
> more sustained growth to Asia; they have also been a liberating force.
> Just as early capitalism subverted feudalism in Western Europe, so
> has economic competition eroded authoritarianism in East Asia.
>
> In the era of globalization, even foreign investments can have a
> democratizing influence. Consider how Beijing is being compelled to
> respect and exercise the rule of law as the basis for foreigners doing
> business in China and to assure the sanctity of contracts as part of its
> efforts to attract outside capital and technology. Much of this imported
> technology, particularly that in the information and communications
> industries, makes more difficult the state's control of people's minds
> and directions. Indeed, the whole post-industrial era ñ whose key
> resource is intellectual capital ñ requires for its evolution in any
> given country a drastic expansion of individual freedom.
>
> To give democracy the time it needs to mature throughout Asia, our
> statesmen must ñ in concert ñ create the environment that stimulates
> socio-economic development and the rise of civil society. We must
> never forget that peace and development are two sides of the same
> coin; one cannot progress without the other. I see as the key to
> enduring peace in the new century the accommodation of the
> legitimate ambitions of the rising powers ñ China foremost among
> them ñ for influence in regional affairs. Finding a practical way of
> making this happen will not be easy. Providentially, none of the
> powers faces an immediate threat, and rivalry among them has lost its
> ideological edge.
>
> We must cool down the periodic crises in Kashmir, the Korean
> Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait. The conflicting claims over the
> Spratlys must be put into a more cooperative framework because the
> South China Sea is at the strategic crossroads of Southeast Asia.
> Specific efforts in this direction by the great powers, the ASEAN
> Regional Forum, APEC and the region's security community will be
> bolstered by fast-growing inter-regional trade, investment and
> tourism. Economic interdependence may not guarantee peace and
> stability, but it does create a powerful incentive for avoiding violent
> conflicts through the promise of a bountiful harvest of shared benefits.
>
> Fidel Ramos was President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998
>



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