Vote Buying

[pdogg]

A letter to the editor of The Nation

 

 

Politicians in the Northeast have been called undemocratic for "buying" votes. However, whether vote-buying actually influences elections has always been a mystery, since voters' choices are supposed to be kept secret. That mystery was solved by the voting experience of my Roi-et domestic helper in the 2011 election.Neither "red" nor "yellow", she returned to vote in her constituency out of civic duty. She was asked to write her name on the ballot paper. At the count, an official publicly announced her name and called her a dog for choosing the Democrat Party. Only seven of about 500 village residents voted Democrat - all were publicly insulted for doing so.

All except the seven were paid by the village head, who answers to the Interior Ministry. Where was the Electoral Commission in all this?

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/An-insiders-guide-to-vote-buying-30221847.html

[rxpharm]

Here's an opinion piece from a Thai columnist in the Bangkok Post.

 

 

Polling day's purple patch
Expect an election to change nothing - a rotten system will stay rotten as long as votes can be bought for 500 baht
• Published: 15 Dec 2013 at 00.00
• Newspaper section: Brunch
Every single problem that arises in the administration of the Kingdom of Thailand can be traced back to this simple situation

 

Well I'm back from the States ... anything
happen in the two weeks I was away?
Oh look, I'm kidding. Talk about impeccable timing. My trip began with Suthep calling for a million-man march and ended with Yingluck calling a snap election. I really
should stay in Thailand; look at the chaos the country sinks into when I leave.
The news that we probably have an election on Feb 2 almost dampened the elation I felt upon touching down at Suvarnabhumi.
Is that the way we solve the problem? Another election? In the American vernacular, it just ain't gonna work.
How is having another election going to help this fragile situation when the elections are the very root of the problem?
I have read and seen enough of the Facebook posts and the ribald satirical YouTube clips of our prime minister to know that there is a large swathe of the Thai population
who believes she is not smart.
How wrong they are; calling an election is the smartest thing our prime minister could do. She should have done it the moment Suthep began his vocal protests.
Because she is going to win again.
There is no doubt about it.
Pheu Thai has the numbers, and they will get in again thanks to the democratic process of elections.
That will keep the international media happy, since the international media just loves a democratic process, but for those of us in Thailand, it isn't going to solve anything.
I do not want to repeat myself from two weeks ago, but at least allow me to refer to that column: The root of the problem is in vote-buying. Outside of Bangkok, in the
North and Northeast, people are paid to vote.
Through a very intricate and ingenious network of vote canvassers, villagers receive up to 500 baht to cast their vote.
Both sides do it, and in the current climate Pheu Thai has more money than the Democrats, so they win. Amazing; in two sentences I just summed up the whole problem.
Every single problem that arises in the administration of the Kingdom of Thailand can be traced back to this simple situation.
This is why I cringe each time CNN speaks of the elected Thai government being persecuted by a mob of protesters demanding the government's ouster. If only life were as
simple as a 15-second CNN sound bite (and if only CNN could find reporters who would take time to truly understand the situation).
What the international media doesn't get is this: Political parties in Thailand don't win elections on popular vote. They buy the government.
We can blame Thaksin for being money-hungry. We can say Abhisit is elitist and old guard. Whatever. The truth is, they are all working within the same smelly, rotten
political system in which you have to pay to win.
And once you win, the arduous process of recouping one's losses begins.
I tried my best to convey this message to my American friends and family, since during the first week of my American trip, Thailand was hot news.
(Interestingly, in week two of my visit that coverage practically disappeared despite the situation becoming more intense. If one day is a long time in politics, one week is
an eternity in the news media.)
Still, Americans kept asking me the same question.
''Why are y'all wanting to oust an elected government?'' I got asked in various forms. ''Don't y'all want a democracy over there in Taiwan?''
That last question I really was asked, in a bar in Washington DC I escaped to one morning to beat the freezing cold. By that stage I was so tired of trying to explain what
was going on back home I didn't even bother to correct him on the country's name.
I had one learned American tell me that while vote-buying was bad, it was no worse than the intense lobbyists found in the halls of power in Washington DC.
Perhaps he was right, but do two wrongs make a right?
Thailand needs an all-out, in-your-face re-education of the masses on vote-buying. Billboards, TV ads, town hall meetings, buttons, T-shirts, a catchy pop song and most
importantly, scary repercussions for parties that engage in it.
Imagine the magnitude of such a campaign. It would be the equivalent of Sweden in 1967, when the entire country changed from driving on the left to driving on the right.
Perhaps it would be even more difficult than that, because of the inherent understanding by villagers across this country that they must be paid in order to vote for
somebody.
How does one do that? How does one re-educate 68 million people into understanding that election time is not a period of temporary prosperity? Keep in mind the average
villager is impoverished. That 500 baht he gets at election time buys a helluva lot of rice whisky.
And who is going to instigate it?
No major party in this country is going to make an honest attempt to dismantle a system that works overwhelmingly in its favour. It is easier to dish out cash for votes
rather than actively build a relationship of trust with voters through good governance, something we have yet to see in this country.
It is on this point alone that I veer towards the formation of a ruling council, albeit absolutely interim, to sort things out. But only veer, dear reader, not make a beeline. To
me a ruling council reeks of communism and I'm not ready to don a faded party uniform and go out into the fields just yet.
Is there any other way to dismantle the system?
I believe that with the absence of money being doled out at election time, there would be a radical change in the political landscape in this country.
Without the massive injection of vote-buying funds, there would be a lessening of the desire to recoup that investment through 30% under-the-table payments for
government contracts, currently edging up to 40%. And imagine how brilliant a country this would be with an extra 30-40% in its coffers for public spending.
Is this realistically going to happen any time in the near future? I think not. Remember all the politicians who were banned from politics for five years because of their links
to Thaksin and corruption? Well their five years are up. You're not going to find any of them actively campaigning for no vote-buying and more checks and balances. They
are back, and they are hungry.
There are all sorts of other things that must be done to rid Thailand of its rotten political system, such as a repeal of the liquor ban on election day, too.
Just look at the calibre of politicians in this country. They can only have come from a bunch of moribund teetotalers.
The moment you force a nation of alcoholics to sober up in order to vote, their judgement is impaired. The proof is sitting right there in the Thai parliament.
I have faith in the Thai people, especially this more informed and educated new generation, to make the changes necessary to create a new, cleaner system.
It is not an uphill battle; it is a sheer cliff face of a battle. But hey, if the boring old Swedes can get used to driving on the right, so too can the Thais start to elect politicians
based on merit, rather than a purple banknote.

 

 

Here's the link: http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/384881/polling-day-purple-patch

 

 

[pdogg]

Excellent article RX. 

 

 

I had one learned American tell me that while vote-buying was bad, it was no worse than the intense lobbyists found in the halls of power in Washington DC.

Same same but different.

 

In both cases just a way the rich and powerful exploit the poor and powerless.