Democracy On The March!

[kent_allard_jr]

Too bad it's marching in the wrong direction.

I've been half-heartedly following the anti-government protests in Thailand; today the Constitutional Court banned the ruling party. The BBC has a nice, if brief, rundown on the crisis. So far, I've seen no reason to sympathize with the anti-government forces. They may call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, but as far as I can tell, they're a bunch of rich thugs who are outraged by the ruling party's attempts to help poor Thais. If someone can point me to a more nuanced view of the crisis, feel free to do so.

Meanwhile, it looks like Canadian PM Stephen Harper is considering shutting down parliament to prevent opposition parties from taking over. Am I the only one who thinks this would be an inexcusable power-grab? I understand the fear of the Bloc Quebecois -- I think the separatists are a bunch of nutcases, myself -- and the suspension may be technically legal under the Canadian Constitution. It's still a gross violation of democratic norms, and I hope Harper's party is fiercely punished for it in the next election.

Comments

[mrs-dm.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'd rather support a coalition government. If it works in other countries like Germany, why not? In fact, it would be more democratic because Harper and his Conservatives got into power with only (roughly) 37% of the vote, so a coalition of the Liberals, NDP and Bloc would actually represent the majority (about 63%, I'm too lazy to look up the numbers) of voters.

For a few years now, Harper has governed as if he has a majority. He just doesn't know how to cooperate in a minority government. After an acrimonious election in October, he hung on to power, then promised to play nice. Instead, he tried to strongarm the opposition parties last week by proposing to a) offer no stimulus package in the next budget and b) wipe out their per-vote subsidy (essentially decimating their coffers and future ability to win an election). They called his bluff. Bye bye Mr. Harper! Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

Sniffs of Yeltsin, even if there's no tanks—"If you won't support my bad economics, then you aren't fit to govern." Sure, nobody wants to depend on the separatists, but when not one of the three opposition parties is willing to coalesce with the government (with all the perks that implies), well, that says something else... Besides, maybe having actual influence (and the prospect of losing it) would help to moderate the Québécois? At least for the time being? (Or maybe that's crazy-talk...)

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

Looks like it's official now... awww, they're so cute when they have constitutional crises.