လူငယ္ထုအားနဲ ့ အာဏာရွင္ကို အျမစ္ျဖတ္စိမ္ေခၚျခင္း

Youth uprisings reflect ‘desperate’ need for reform
Lilian Budianto , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta |
Wed, 04/14/2010 9:24 AM |

Decades after democracy made its first inroads in Southeast Asia, youth movements have increasingly led reforms in a region where repressive regimes have ruled with little tolerance of civil society groups.

From the uprising in the Philippines, to Indonesia, Myanmar and the recent protests in Thailand, youth and students as well as religious groups have taken the lead for political reform, although many faced violent repression.

Regardless of their success rate, the bottom-up approach, with youth in the frontline to push government reforms, has becomes a mainstream activity. Activists say this allows everybody a chance to participate in making new governments.

“The idea of democracy is to give everybody a space for their voice and a role in the building of a nation,” said Ryota Jonen, of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, at the 6th symposium of the World Movement for Democracy in Jakarta, on Tuesday.

He said if a democracy was installed with a top down approach, as in Malaysia and Singapore, then people had little chance to voice their aspirations and influence government policies.

Indonesia saw a major turning point leading to democracy with the 1998 student revolt, ending 32-years of Soeharto’s authoritarian rule.

Now the world’s third largest democracy, Indonesia is an example of successful transition from dictatorship to democracy, speakers said.

In contrast, democracy in the Philippines has seen a decline following the initial success of the people movement in 1986. The Philippines is now reported to be one of the most dangerous places for journalists worldwide, following a massacre of journalists last year.

“Social revolts have been seen as an effective way to lead to democracy because they put the largest pressure on government compared to other ways,” said Hans Tippenhauer, an activist from Haiti, during the same event.

“But whether this is followed by success or repression is another matter. At least, youth uprisings are effective in attracting attention, telling people that something must be done to make a change,” he said.

Khin Maung Win, a deputy director of the Democratic Voice of Burma, said youth movements could only work to push for democracy when combined with external pressure.

“If you are facing a harsh military regime, that does not hesitate to use violence to stamp out protests, there is little chance a people’s revolt will successfully bring about change.” he said. None of Myanmar’s people’s revolts have been successful in toppling the military regime, which cracked down on the opposition party after it won the 1990 elections. Some 3,000 people were reported killed in Myanmar during the 1988 uprising, and more than 100 in another revolt led by monks in 2007.

Jonen said there was not a single model where people’s mobilization could be proven to have worked to bring about reform, but at least it was necessary to signal to the world that people wanted reform.

“When youth engagement culminates in an uprising, it is a sign of how desperate they are for a reform. But such social uprisings do not always guarantee a success in bringing democracy. But it is still worth trying,” he said.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/04/14/youth-uprisings-reflect-%E2%80%98desperate%E2%80%99-need-reform.html