Respect my right to vote

Respect my right to vote

Come this Sunday, Feb 2, you don’t have to respect my vote. But you do have to respect my democratic rights, one of which is the right to vote.

Thailand is a dysfunctional, corrupt democracy, this I agree. That you demand aloud for good governance and a better democracy, this I also agree. The Pheu Thai Party under the will and whim of Thaksin Shinawatra is a threat to democratic progress, this I agree as well. 

In fact, the Democrat Party under the will and whim of SuthepThaugsuban is also a threat to democratic progress, I write this even if you disagree. That’s the beauty of democracy; we don’t have to agree.

Anti-government protesters block people from voting in Bang Bon district on advance voting day, Jan 26, 2014. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)

But if you want a better democracy, then you’d better well behave like you deserve it, by respecting my right to vote.

It is not a curse or damnation by the gods that our democracy is corrupt and dysfunctional. It is so because our behaviour is corrupt and dysfunctional. We are what we do, and collectively what we do becomes our social norm. 

So if we want a better democracy for Thai society, it is through our attitude and actions that a better democracy will be built.

If you accuse the Pheu Thai Party of behaving unconstitutionally, then you’d better well behave constitutionally by respecting my right to vote, as is guaranteed by the constitution. 

If you accuse the red -hirts of behaving like undemocratic thugs, then you’d better well behave like democratic citizens come Sunday, rather than denying me my right through a physical barrier, intimidation or violence as undemocratic thugs would. 

Elections do not define everything about democracy, this I agree. But it is the frontline of democracy. It is the right to choose, in other words, freedom, and that is what defines democracy. 

You may campaign to boycott this particular election, persuade the entire nation to choose reform before election, this I respect your right to do so. But if you want a better democracy, you’d better well earn it by respecting my right to vote. 

You may say that you must blockade the voting booths because of the rampant vote buying in Thai elections. I agree, in my opinion there is rampant vote buying in Thai elections. But opinion and fact is not the same thing. 

Bring the evidence of vote buying, submit it to all state and independent agencies, publish it in all the media, local and international, hire a fleet of airplanes and have them drop copies of the evidence in every corner of the Kingdom of Thailand. 

Eligible voter lists posted in constituency 17 of Surin province, with a red-shirt banner draped above the board. (Post Today photo)

Expose it. Prove it. Bring down every single political party that is guilty of vote buying. 

But come Sunday, if you are going to prevent me from casting my vote, you’d better have evidence that I – and other ordinary citizens who will vote on that day – have sold our votes. 

Show me video footage, a taped record or a signed receipt showing that my vote has been sold and bought. But if you don’t have this evidence, then step aside and respect my right to vote. 

If you demand a better democracy, then also respect this truth -- in a dictatorship, an accusation is enough for a guilty verdict; in a democracy, an accusation is empty without proof.

Proof, irrefutable, beyond reasonable doubt, that’s the burden of the better democracy that you want.

I respect your right to demand that Pheu Thai be banned from politics. I respect your right to pursue this agenda under the democratic process. I even agree with it, and suggest you do the same for the Democrat Party. 

The point is, I respect your right. Would you respect mine and others’?  

This Sunday, one person chooses to vote; another person chooses to boycott. They respect each other’s right to make his or her personal choice, even if they don’t agree with each other. These two people set an example for a better democracy. 

A better democracy is built by the attitudes and actions of individual citizens, combined into a collective culture. It is our behaviour that will decide whether we can achieve it or not.

What we make of Thailand is what we make of ourselves. The choice is ours. 

Voranai Vanijaka

Bangkok Post columnist

Voranai Vanijaka is a columnist, Bangkok Post.

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