Democracy isn't supposed to be showbiz
 
Philip Bowring IHT
Saturday, April 27, 2002
HONG KONG Judged from halfway across the world, the first round of the French presidential election is more embarrassment for France than cause for alarm. Nonetheless, it does serve to highlights some issues which are highly pertinent for Europe and have resonance in Asia. They will likely still be alive when the name Le Pen is as forgotten in Asia as Poujade is today.
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The dominance of market-led, predominantly private, global capitalism is overwhelming. So the differences between candidates become blurred, and the sort of personality politics which elected Joseph Estrada in the Philippines, Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand, Tony Blair in Britain and Silvio Berlusconi in Italy takes over.
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Outside the main consensus rests a large minority of malcontents. Some vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen, some for so-called Trotskyites, some for the greens and many for no one. As yet they are united by no ideology - but they just could be if economies turned seriously sour for an extended period. There is a need to take hard-won democratic opportunities seriously, not as an extension of showbiz. It may not have been deliberate, but the French have humiliated one of the most honorable politicians in all Europe. Whatever their politics, most voters would surely rather buy a used car from Lionel Jospin than from Berlusconi, Blair or Jacques Chirac.
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The demographics that are part of the problem in Europe could well be in Asia, too. Low birthrates have created a demand for immigrant labor. Meanwhile, nearby North and West Africa have some of the world's highest birthrates and established migration routes. Immigration has become both an economic necessity and a source of social conflict for Europe because of cultural differences and the perception that such marginalized immigrants are a major cause of crime. Prosperous Asia has worse demographics than Europe. Hong Kong now boasts the world's lowest birthrate, and Singapore is not much better.
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The European Union must put real effort into building relations with North Africa. That would provide these countries with better opportunities for economic development and bring them closer to European political and social norms. Europe's failure in this respect contrasts with Japan's success in building economic relations with its former subjects in Asia.
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The vast and still growing power of the Brussels (and now Frankfurt) bureaucracy, whose political accountability is second- or third-hand, has made many democrats in France as elsewhere disillusioned with the system. So moderates vote for fringe figures. Berlusconi for one has benefited from this reaction. France, which still wields more influence in the EU even than Germany, is in a position to address this issue.
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Last but not least: several Asian countries can see the wisdom of the two-round presidential voting system. Single-round elections with multiple candidates, as seen in the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan, can have disastrous results.Thanks to the framers of the Fifth Republic, French voters can soon make amends.
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International Herald Tribune
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