Organizer: NYSEAN
Type/Location: In person / New York City
Description:
Join the NYSEAN for a discussion of recent elections and political change in Southeast Asia with Sheila Coronel, Amy Freedman, Sidney Jones, Allen Hicken, J.M. Lanuza, Kanokrat Lertchoosakul, Nava Nuraniyah, Jonathan Corpus Ong, and Meredith Weiss
This conference aims to place recent Southeast Asian elections in context by analyzing what kind of political change has occurred as well as assessing future prospects for politics in Southeast Asia across a series of critically important thematic issues. Thailand’s May 2023 elections produced a surprise victory for the progressive Move Forward Party but conservative forces including the military and monarchy thwarted its attempts to form a government. In the Philippines, the election victory of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son of the late dictator, raised fears of a further slide toward illiberalism but since taking office he has pulled back on Duterte’s brutal drug war and persecution of critics. In Malaysia, which has witnessed a series of weak governments since the ruling coalition under the UMNO lost the 2018 election after 61 years in power, long-time opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim became Prime Minister following the 2022 elections, ushering in hopes for political reform that to date have been disappointed. In Indonesia, the February election victory of Prabowo Subianto, a former general who was dismissed from the military for attempting to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power from his one-time father-in-law and long-time dictator Suharto, has raised fears that Indonesia’s democratic era, 25 years in the making, will see further backsliding and may slide into autocracy. Our conference intends to both delve into what has happened in recent elections and place Southeast Asia in a global context of democratic decline, the role of digital life on politics, and if there is a generational shift afoot in the region.
This event will be moderated by NYSEAN’s co-founders and Executive Committee members John Gershman, Ann Marie Murphy, and Margaret Scott.
Registration:
To register, click here.