All this tyrannical behaviour stems from the fear and loathing that grips the upper part of the Thai absolutist hierarchy. As Andrew MacGregor Marshall has shown, much of it has been split for many years into irreconcilable factions once led by the irreconcilable Bhumibol and Sirikit, both descendants of Rama V. The deeply fascist, paranoid, and corrupt Sirikit faction now supports the paranoid and corrupt Vajiralongkorn. The less corrupt, but deeply self-righteous, “l’état c’est nous”, but fading faction once supporting Bhumibol now favour the diligent Sirindhorn. Both have their own military bully-boy factions. Both know the people despise and fear Vajiralongkorn and would welcome Sirindhorn. Both know the contest has no rules, and has a good chance of being bloody. Perhaps the more historically informed Bhumibol faction is more acutely aware that a bloody and necessarily deeply unseemly conflict will discredit the Chakri family, the monarchy, and anti-democratic Thai political culture altogether.
The plaque gesture may have been an attempt to promote unity by appealing to one of the few sentiments the two factions have in common: loathing of democracy, and fear of the power over them given to the courts and to elected politicians by any serious constitution. Fear and hatred of Thaksin is another thing that is plugged relentlessly because that also unites them. In case anybody thinks Vajiralongkorn retains any loyalty to Thaksin, they should think again. Loyalty is not in his character. Nobody hates and denies a creditor more than a dishonest debtor.
This theme of Chakri division raises the possibility of the existence of a third, anti-democratic, unity faction, one that does not take sides in the family conflict, and one which the two Chakri factions know they need. Prayut’s survival probably indicates that he is a senior member. Intense promotion of unity has long existed in the military, which is likely to be at the core of the anti-democratic unity faction. The fear in the hearts of both the anti-democratic unity faction, and of the old, “l’état c’est nous” faction stems from Vajiralongkorn’s instability. Will he precipitate the conflict by outrageous favouritism and promotion to leadership of widely distrusted and despised members of the military?
Marshall’s message to TLC: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia Studies Association:
Subject: Call to boycott the International Conference on Thai Studies 13 in Chiang Mai
Date: 20 April 2017 at 11:47:50 BST
To: tlc Tlc
In view of the worsening human rights situation in Thailand,and the efforts by the junta to prevent Thais having any contact with Somsak Jeamteerasakul and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, two of the most respected and courageous Thai academics, I would like to call on the organisers of the International Conference on Thai Studies in Chiang Mai in July to change the venue of the event to a location outside Thailand where people can speak more freely.
Holding this event in Thailand in the current circumstances would be absurd and would send totally the wrong message. Nobody who genuinely values academic freedom can credibly claim that this event could have any value if it goes ahead in Thailand. The only people who would benefit are the junta, who could exploit the conference to pretend that for academics in Thailand it is business as usual.
If the organisers refuse to change the venue of the event, I urge all scholars to boycott the conference. This is a moment in Thai history when academics need to stand up and do the right thing. There is no excuse for holding a fake conference in Chiang Mai when the academics who could contribute the most are being persecuted and threatened and cannot participate.
Two activists detained after promoting search for missing revolution plaque
On 20 April 2017, Boonsin Yokthip, a representative from the Dharma-based Democracy Club, filed a complaint to Dusit Police Station. He asked the police to search for the 1932 Revolution memorial plaque, saying the plaque is a national treasure commemorating the birth of Thailand’s constitution.
Boonsin told media that he was aware the action put him at the risk of being arrested. He added that he had actually wanted security officers to detain him so he could try changing the attitudes of authorities themselves about democracy and the constitution.
After police interrogated him for two hours, Boonsin and a friend, Santiphong Winurat, were brought to the 11th Military Circle to undergo a so-called ‘attitude adjustment’ session.
“The authorities are so kind. They are giving me a ride so I don’t have to walk in the hot weather,” Boonsin joked to media before being taken away.
Hi Ralph. I doubt that the new head boy has formulated a plan to instil fear, not consciously anyway. I think he’s probably just acting according to his nature in order to feel like he’s in charge. The army of course will just kiss his bottom because, well, because that’s what they do, in between binges of thieving of course, same as the police, the bureaucracy and the courts, though but in different catchment areas.
I had hoped he would move to create a new image for himself, one of reigning for the actual benefit of the Thai people and not himself, but I now think that hope was forlorn, it probably was always going to be. He is a stronger character than his good ole Dad, and and less likely to do as he’s told unless there’s an identifiable quid in it for him, some strength of character could be applied to clearing the Augeian stables in Thailand of their corruption excrement, but it appears that the only outlet so far has been and is likely to continue to be only useful in making a pain in the ass of himself.
It’s a pity really, a badly needed opportunity is in the process of going begging because the man has always been a misfit (and none too bright as well, doubtless more evidence in that family of the downside of inbreeding), he lacks a mentor to teach him the facts of life, and probably wouldn’t pay any attention anyway if he/she wasn’t wearing a tight skirt. The previous guy (the one who died) just wasn’t up to the job on his best days, and I doubt the head poo-bah of the current illegal government is able to do more than continue to crawl on his belly, thereby retracing the courses of various canine bottoms – an unattractive picture but nonetheless, quite pleasing to the mind’s eye, even if it shouldn’t really be.
Killing the spectre of democracy: 1932 Revolution Plaque removal
Fri, 21/04/2017
“Amid the mystery of what happened, this object has unexpectedly created a new memory to welcome the new [junta-sponsored] constitution of Thailand, which is a national embarrassment,” Pinkaew Laungaramsri, Asst Prof of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Chiang Mai University, said of the disappearance of the 1932 Revolution plaque.
Thai royal agencies brought under control of new king
Fri Apr 21, 2017
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s parliament has agreed in a confidential session to transfer control of royal agencies from the government to new King Maha Vajiralongkorn, members of the military-appointed legislature said on Friday.
The decision came on Thursday in a sitting that was not broadcast in public, they said. It is another step in giving greater say to the king, who has been reshaping the palace and shown himself increasingly assertive on other fronts.
“It involves the transfer of agencies that work for the monarch so that they are grouped together and report to the king,” said one parliament member, who declined to be identified.
The new reign has brought an intensified censorship. Jom seems to be a critic, like AMM, Pavin and Somsak, not to mention Go Tee, that the new regime wants to block out or even erase (as they do for history). I use “new” to denote the military’s increased use of threat and fear. That is associated with what PPT has called a refeudalization of politics: https://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2017/04/21/a-feudal-future-beckons/
Serhat Unaldi described the previous regime as being about working towards the monarchy. The new regime seems to be working towards the fear (of the king) and the added power for repression that permits the junta.
Saying a lot and yet saying nothing. Everyone and his neighbour already know that electoral reforms are needed. How to get that done is another matter. The entrenchment that ensures UMNO-BN survival also ensure no meaningful changes.
Forget about asking for “arab spring” That would just replace one regime with another. Some younger Pakatan (opposition grouping) leaders are more realistic. They are working rather independently to educate and inform the younger rural folks on issues affecting their “bread and butter”. They are not harping on issues like 1MDB, that, to the rural folks really do not mean much. Some progress is being made there. Hopefullly, enough will be done before malaysia really goes down the tubes..
It’s unusual to see anyone posting on a Thai-related article who recognizes that the vast majority of Thai people are not living their lives in relation to news from the upper reaches of society.
Ignoring the overall slowdown in the Thai economy, two issues that come to mind for folks not obsessing over real-life soaps are the “street clearances” being undertaken in Bangkok and the ongoing strength of the Thai baht.
In one case, it is the BMA pursuing a policy of “taking back the sidewalks” that is depriving thousands of their livelihoods and in the other SMEs that rely on exports and compete primarily on price are being punished so that certain domestic-oriented industries and investors in the SET benefit.
Both have negative effects on the “lower orders” and both are policies (or lack of such) that have nothing to do with whose uncle gets offed in the dining room with a candlestick when the family’s golden goose is no longer welcome in the Big Bad’s bed.
As we see all around the neoliberal world at the moment, issues that would once have been understood to relate to economics and the exploitation of the poor and would therefore fall under the category of politics are being reframed as “identity” issues or ignored altogether in favor of Tales from the Crypt and the 100 families struggling to stay in there.
The commentariat dealing with Thai issues in the international press and doing the circuit of conferences and closed-door talk shows has never had it so good, of course, because the “framing” of Thai politics as a spin-off from the Twilight series or Vampire Lestat certainly gains more interest than dry analyses of how the economy is being rigged to siphon more money upwards and inwards to Bangkok ever would.
It would be hilarious if it weren’t so sordid, really.
In Thailand, we are told it is “ultraroyalism” and a bad bad man that are the source of problems that only “democracy” can fix.
In democratic Indonesia, an even more unequal nation than Thailand, we are to believe that the problems are related to Islam and racial/ethnic prejudice.
There are even those who have suggested that democracy is too weak a form of governance to stand up to the greed and corruption of the oligarchy in Indonesia. We certainly see the weakness of democracy as a promoter of justice in the US these days.
And not that long ago, in this forum, the usual suspects were chortling over how Burma was going to be showing Thailand how democracy was done.
But with an ongoing genocide, reignited civil wars, and a false idol (created of course by the same folks who are demonizing Thailand at the moment) crashing to the pavement like a statue of Saddam, one wonders just what it is that Myanmar could teach Thailand about good governance and democracy.
I suspect there are more political prisoners in Myanmar’s “model” democracy than in the horrorshow of gothic Thailand, but hey… who’s counting?
Democratically-elected Duterte has really outdone democratically-elected Thaksin where the competition to murder citizens by death squad is concerned and the present junta in Thailand has yet to come even close, so maybe we will have to wait for an election to get a real contender in Thailand?
I read the piece. The elites used religion pure and simple. They didn’t have to channel the social economic issues into sectarian ones, when sectarian issues have always been present in Indonesia across all segments of society
Secondly the number of people impact by evictions and their extended family is at most 60,000. Its not enough to significantly influence the vote.
Thirdly, define Ahok position that were neoliberal. KJP and KJS neo-liberal? Going after people for taxes neoliberal.
As for boorish comments about the West. Just because I like to mock the know it all in New Mandala is that boorish. This is supposed to be an academic blog, but using 2 year old articles from the JP about income inequality is something to be mocked.
While the word “neoliberal” can be ambiguous, there is a broadly accepted core definition: it refers to policies that privatize state assets, reduce state funding for health, education, and welfare, and remove state regulations on the private sector. Defined in that way, Ahok’s policies are the opposite of neoliberalism. Ahok, like Jokowi before him, was trying to increase state revenue (especially by cracking down on the embezzlement and rent-seeking by city government officials) and then use that revenue for public purposes: drainage, schools, transport, parks, etc. This article says nothing about that strategy even though it was the strategy that earned him such high approval ratings before the blasphemy case. It is not just middle class people who want less flooding, better schools, and less pilfering of public funds. This is, of course, not a revolutionary strategy of leveling but it is a strategy to make life marginally better for many poor people. To condemn liberals like Mulya Lubis who defended the Bukit Duri eviction as “deeply hostile to the poor and working class” is to caricature their position. The “poor and working class are, of course, not one united mass of people. There are plenty of renters in Jakarta, like those in neighborhood where I sometimes dwell, who do not get worked up about the removal of people from state lands, many of whom were living rent-free, and then the provision of apartments for them at lower-than-market rates. Again, Ahok did not get such high approval ratings, and 42-43% of the vote in the two rounds of voting, by being completely hostile to the poor and working class. He did not lose because of his economic strategies. He lost because of a reactionary campaign over religion. Now any kind of left agenda of leveling is even more difficult.
The analysis isn’t saying religion wasn’t a factor. It states over and over sectarianism was a significant factor. Between this and your previous comment it’s as if you haven’t even read the piece. It argues that socio-economic tensions were channeled into sectarian politics. This is convenient for elites because making it about religion and ethnicity ignores other socio-economic issues, such as their own siphoning of the nations wealth. Similar arguments have been given many times explaining the rise of the religious right in the US, Europe etc. It’s a shame you also seem to have to use boorish caricatures of ‘the West’, as if that offers any insight in to the article. It doesn’t.
Btw Anies’s record in fighting corruption was one of action. He is member of Team 8 KPK back in 2010, to examine the cases of the alleged criminalization of Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) Leades (Bibit & Chandra) and in 2013 Anies requested by the KPK to lead the Committee of ethics.
Recently Novel Baswedan, a senior investigator at KPK that handling few high level corruption cases had suffered burns after acid attack is actually Anies cousin.
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Kingdom of fear (and favour)
All this tyrannical behaviour stems from the fear and loathing that grips the upper part of the Thai absolutist hierarchy. As Andrew MacGregor Marshall has shown, much of it has been split for many years into irreconcilable factions once led by the irreconcilable Bhumibol and Sirikit, both descendants of Rama V. The deeply fascist, paranoid, and corrupt Sirikit faction now supports the paranoid and corrupt Vajiralongkorn. The less corrupt, but deeply self-righteous, “l’état c’est nous”, but fading faction once supporting Bhumibol now favour the diligent Sirindhorn. Both have their own military bully-boy factions. Both know the people despise and fear Vajiralongkorn and would welcome Sirindhorn. Both know the contest has no rules, and has a good chance of being bloody. Perhaps the more historically informed Bhumibol faction is more acutely aware that a bloody and necessarily deeply unseemly conflict will discredit the Chakri family, the monarchy, and anti-democratic Thai political culture altogether.
The plaque gesture may have been an attempt to promote unity by appealing to one of the few sentiments the two factions have in common: loathing of democracy, and fear of the power over them given to the courts and to elected politicians by any serious constitution. Fear and hatred of Thaksin is another thing that is plugged relentlessly because that also unites them. In case anybody thinks Vajiralongkorn retains any loyalty to Thaksin, they should think again. Loyalty is not in his character. Nobody hates and denies a creditor more than a dishonest debtor.
This theme of Chakri division raises the possibility of the existence of a third, anti-democratic, unity faction, one that does not take sides in the family conflict, and one which the two Chakri factions know they need. Prayut’s survival probably indicates that he is a senior member. Intense promotion of unity has long existed in the military, which is likely to be at the core of the anti-democratic unity faction. The fear in the hearts of both the anti-democratic unity faction, and of the old, “l’état c’est nous” faction stems from Vajiralongkorn’s instability. Will he precipitate the conflict by outrageous favouritism and promotion to leadership of widely distrusted and despised members of the military?
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
Some seem to benefiting from dictatorship: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/finance/1236310/bank-profits-surge-in-q1
Committing to open academic spaces in Thailand
for mine Andrew Marshall is correct .
Committing to open academic spaces in Thailand
Marshall’s message to TLC: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia Studies Association:
Subject: Call to boycott the International Conference on Thai Studies 13 in Chiang Mai
Date: 20 April 2017 at 11:47:50 BST
To: tlc Tlc
In view of the worsening human rights situation in Thailand,and the efforts by the junta to prevent Thais having any contact with Somsak Jeamteerasakul and Pavin Chachavalpongpun, two of the most respected and courageous Thai academics, I would like to call on the organisers of the International Conference on Thai Studies in Chiang Mai in July to change the venue of the event to a location outside Thailand where people can speak more freely.
Holding this event in Thailand in the current circumstances would be absurd and would send totally the wrong message. Nobody who genuinely values academic freedom can credibly claim that this event could have any value if it goes ahead in Thailand. The only people who would benefit are the junta, who could exploit the conference to pretend that for academics in Thailand it is business as usual.
If the organisers refuse to change the venue of the event, I urge all scholars to boycott the conference. This is a moment in Thai history when academics need to stand up and do the right thing. There is no excuse for holding a fake conference in Chiang Mai when the academics who could contribute the most are being persecuted and threatened and cannot participate.
https://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
What next ? Bombing of the Democracy Monument ? At least the surrounding area would already be clear of street vendors !!
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
Two activists detained after promoting search for missing revolution plaque
On 20 April 2017, Boonsin Yokthip, a representative from the Dharma-based Democracy Club, filed a complaint to Dusit Police Station. He asked the police to search for the 1932 Revolution memorial plaque, saying the plaque is a national treasure commemorating the birth of Thailand’s constitution.
Boonsin told media that he was aware the action put him at the risk of being arrested. He added that he had actually wanted security officers to detain him so he could try changing the attitudes of authorities themselves about democracy and the constitution.
After police interrogated him for two hours, Boonsin and a friend, Santiphong Winurat, were brought to the 11th Military Circle to undergo a so-called ‘attitude adjustment’ session.
“The authorities are so kind. They are giving me a ride so I don’t have to walk in the hot weather,” Boonsin joked to media before being taken away.
http://prachatai.org/english/node/7092
Thais in exile
Hi Ralph. I doubt that the new head boy has formulated a plan to instil fear, not consciously anyway. I think he’s probably just acting according to his nature in order to feel like he’s in charge. The army of course will just kiss his bottom because, well, because that’s what they do, in between binges of thieving of course, same as the police, the bureaucracy and the courts, though but in different catchment areas.
I had hoped he would move to create a new image for himself, one of reigning for the actual benefit of the Thai people and not himself, but I now think that hope was forlorn, it probably was always going to be. He is a stronger character than his good ole Dad, and and less likely to do as he’s told unless there’s an identifiable quid in it for him, some strength of character could be applied to clearing the Augeian stables in Thailand of their corruption excrement, but it appears that the only outlet so far has been and is likely to continue to be only useful in making a pain in the ass of himself.
It’s a pity really, a badly needed opportunity is in the process of going begging because the man has always been a misfit (and none too bright as well, doubtless more evidence in that family of the downside of inbreeding), he lacks a mentor to teach him the facts of life, and probably wouldn’t pay any attention anyway if he/she wasn’t wearing a tight skirt. The previous guy (the one who died) just wasn’t up to the job on his best days, and I doubt the head poo-bah of the current illegal government is able to do more than continue to crawl on his belly, thereby retracing the courses of various canine bottoms – an unattractive picture but nonetheless, quite pleasing to the mind’s eye, even if it shouldn’t really be.
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
and so…?
I’m just not sure what the point of all that was…
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
Killing the spectre of democracy: 1932 Revolution Plaque removal
Fri, 21/04/2017
“Amid the mystery of what happened, this object has unexpectedly created a new memory to welcome the new [junta-sponsored] constitution of Thailand, which is a national embarrassment,” Pinkaew Laungaramsri, Asst Prof of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Chiang Mai University, said of the disappearance of the 1932 Revolution plaque.
http://prachatai.org/english/node/7090
Developing the monarchy
Thai royal agencies brought under control of new king
Fri Apr 21, 2017
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s parliament has agreed in a confidential session to transfer control of royal agencies from the government to new King Maha Vajiralongkorn, members of the military-appointed legislature said on Friday.
The decision came on Thursday in a sitting that was not broadcast in public, they said. It is another step in giving greater say to the king, who has been reshaping the palace and shown himself increasingly assertive on other fronts.
“It involves the transfer of agencies that work for the monarch so that they are grouped together and report to the king,” said one parliament member, who declined to be identified.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN17N0OS-OCATP?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=401
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
Ahok acts as Jakarta governor since Nov 19, 2014. BPS’ Jakarta gini ratio: 2013 (0.364), 2014(0.436), 2015(0.460), 2016(0.394).
The Gini ratio trend under Ahok’s influence (2015-2016) is decreasing then by more than 0.06 points.
Thais in exile
The new reign has brought an intensified censorship. Jom seems to be a critic, like AMM, Pavin and Somsak, not to mention Go Tee, that the new regime wants to block out or even erase (as they do for history). I use “new” to denote the military’s increased use of threat and fear. That is associated with what PPT has called a refeudalization of politics: https://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2017/04/21/a-feudal-future-beckons/
Serhat Unaldi described the previous regime as being about working towards the monarchy. The new regime seems to be working towards the fear (of the king) and the added power for repression that permits the junta.
Malaysia’s electoral reform: more important than ever
Saying a lot and yet saying nothing. Everyone and his neighbour already know that electoral reforms are needed. How to get that done is another matter. The entrenchment that ensures UMNO-BN survival also ensure no meaningful changes.
Forget about asking for “arab spring” That would just replace one regime with another. Some younger Pakatan (opposition grouping) leaders are more realistic. They are working rather independently to educate and inform the younger rural folks on issues affecting their “bread and butter”. They are not harping on issues like 1MDB, that, to the rural folks really do not mean much. Some progress is being made there. Hopefullly, enough will be done before malaysia really goes down the tubes..
Kingdom of fear (and favour)
I agree with you Anurat.
It’s unusual to see anyone posting on a Thai-related article who recognizes that the vast majority of Thai people are not living their lives in relation to news from the upper reaches of society.
Ignoring the overall slowdown in the Thai economy, two issues that come to mind for folks not obsessing over real-life soaps are the “street clearances” being undertaken in Bangkok and the ongoing strength of the Thai baht.
In one case, it is the BMA pursuing a policy of “taking back the sidewalks” that is depriving thousands of their livelihoods and in the other SMEs that rely on exports and compete primarily on price are being punished so that certain domestic-oriented industries and investors in the SET benefit.
Both have negative effects on the “lower orders” and both are policies (or lack of such) that have nothing to do with whose uncle gets offed in the dining room with a candlestick when the family’s golden goose is no longer welcome in the Big Bad’s bed.
As we see all around the neoliberal world at the moment, issues that would once have been understood to relate to economics and the exploitation of the poor and would therefore fall under the category of politics are being reframed as “identity” issues or ignored altogether in favor of Tales from the Crypt and the 100 families struggling to stay in there.
The commentariat dealing with Thai issues in the international press and doing the circuit of conferences and closed-door talk shows has never had it so good, of course, because the “framing” of Thai politics as a spin-off from the Twilight series or Vampire Lestat certainly gains more interest than dry analyses of how the economy is being rigged to siphon more money upwards and inwards to Bangkok ever would.
It would be hilarious if it weren’t so sordid, really.
In Thailand, we are told it is “ultraroyalism” and a bad bad man that are the source of problems that only “democracy” can fix.
In democratic Indonesia, an even more unequal nation than Thailand, we are to believe that the problems are related to Islam and racial/ethnic prejudice.
There are even those who have suggested that democracy is too weak a form of governance to stand up to the greed and corruption of the oligarchy in Indonesia. We certainly see the weakness of democracy as a promoter of justice in the US these days.
And not that long ago, in this forum, the usual suspects were chortling over how Burma was going to be showing Thailand how democracy was done.
But with an ongoing genocide, reignited civil wars, and a false idol (created of course by the same folks who are demonizing Thailand at the moment) crashing to the pavement like a statue of Saddam, one wonders just what it is that Myanmar could teach Thailand about good governance and democracy.
I suspect there are more political prisoners in Myanmar’s “model” democracy than in the horrorshow of gothic Thailand, but hey… who’s counting?
Democratically-elected Duterte has really outdone democratically-elected Thaksin where the competition to murder citizens by death squad is concerned and the present junta in Thailand has yet to come even close, so maybe we will have to wait for an election to get a real contender in Thailand?
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
I read the piece. The elites used religion pure and simple. They didn’t have to channel the social economic issues into sectarian ones, when sectarian issues have always been present in Indonesia across all segments of society
Secondly the number of people impact by evictions and their extended family is at most 60,000. Its not enough to significantly influence the vote.
Thirdly, define Ahok position that were neoliberal. KJP and KJS neo-liberal? Going after people for taxes neoliberal.
As for boorish comments about the West. Just because I like to mock the know it all in New Mandala is that boorish. This is supposed to be an academic blog, but using 2 year old articles from the JP about income inequality is something to be mocked.
Thais in exile
The youtube channel of an anti-junta journalist who fled to the US after the 2014 coup d’état has been blocked from audiences in Thailand.
On 20 April 2017, Youtube channel titled ‘Jom Voice’ of Jom Petpradab, a veteran journalist now living in self-exile in the US, was found blocked.
“[This channel] cannot be watched from your country!,” reads the statement on Youtube.
http://prachatai.org/english/node/7089
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
While the word “neoliberal” can be ambiguous, there is a broadly accepted core definition: it refers to policies that privatize state assets, reduce state funding for health, education, and welfare, and remove state regulations on the private sector. Defined in that way, Ahok’s policies are the opposite of neoliberalism. Ahok, like Jokowi before him, was trying to increase state revenue (especially by cracking down on the embezzlement and rent-seeking by city government officials) and then use that revenue for public purposes: drainage, schools, transport, parks, etc. This article says nothing about that strategy even though it was the strategy that earned him such high approval ratings before the blasphemy case. It is not just middle class people who want less flooding, better schools, and less pilfering of public funds. This is, of course, not a revolutionary strategy of leveling but it is a strategy to make life marginally better for many poor people. To condemn liberals like Mulya Lubis who defended the Bukit Duri eviction as “deeply hostile to the poor and working class” is to caricature their position. The “poor and working class are, of course, not one united mass of people. There are plenty of renters in Jakarta, like those in neighborhood where I sometimes dwell, who do not get worked up about the removal of people from state lands, many of whom were living rent-free, and then the provision of apartments for them at lower-than-market rates. Again, Ahok did not get such high approval ratings, and 42-43% of the vote in the two rounds of voting, by being completely hostile to the poor and working class. He did not lose because of his economic strategies. He lost because of a reactionary campaign over religion. Now any kind of left agenda of leveling is even more difficult.
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
The analysis isn’t saying religion wasn’t a factor. It states over and over sectarianism was a significant factor. Between this and your previous comment it’s as if you haven’t even read the piece. It argues that socio-economic tensions were channeled into sectarian politics. This is convenient for elites because making it about religion and ethnicity ignores other socio-economic issues, such as their own siphoning of the nations wealth. Similar arguments have been given many times explaining the rise of the religious right in the US, Europe etc. It’s a shame you also seem to have to use boorish caricatures of ‘the West’, as if that offers any insight in to the article. It doesn’t.
Jakarta: inequality and the poverty of elite pluralism
Btw Anies’s record in fighting corruption was one of action. He is member of Team 8 KPK back in 2010, to examine the cases of the alleged criminalization of Anti-Corruption Commission (KPK) Leades (Bibit & Chandra) and in 2013 Anies requested by the KPK to lead the Committee of ethics.
Recently Novel Baswedan, a senior investigator at KPK that handling few high level corruption cases had suffered burns after acid attack is actually Anies cousin.
Interpreting the Jakarta election
This benign view doesn’t really stand up too well now, does it?