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Published on November 12, 2007

The race is on for political parties contesting the December 23 general election that will put Thailand back on the path toward democratic revival. Having experienced the failure of democracy, a military coup and martial rule - all in little over one year - political awareness among the people could not be higher. Both the rural masses and the urban middleclass are acutely aware of the significance of the upcoming general election, which they know will determine Thailand's future as a democratic society. Whether the democracy that emerges once the interim Surayud government hands over power will be sustainable depends on the outcome of the election.

As long as the election is free and fair by generally accepted standards, the government that emerges from the political process must be considered legitimate.

The Election Commission (EC) and the Surayud government must work together closely to ensure that political parties compete on a level playing field by strictly adhering to the rules and do not resort to dishonest practices, such as vote-buying, bribery or other types of electoral fraud to gain an unfair advantage over competitors.

If applied correctly, such measures will compel and encourage political parties to compete among themselves to try to win the hearts and minds of voters through persuasion.

Political party leaders considered to be the main contenders in the election have been making the rounds organising press conferences, giving interviews and participating in panel discussions. With less than two months to go, they cannot afford to waste time. They and their candidates should introduce themselves to the public and disseminate information on their parties' policy platforms.

The EC, which earlier came up with rules that were widely considered to be overkill in its efforts to control the way political parties campaign during the upcoming election, has come to its senses and relaxed some of the petty or excessively rigid regulations.

One such regulation was that prohibiting news agencies, educational institutions and private organisations from organising public discussion forums involving politicians unless all parties are equally represented. The measure was thought up as a way to ensure absolute fairness in terms of equal access to the media.

Common sense has prevailed and the EC has agreed to allow organisers to exercise their discretion in screening politicians for discussions based on their relative level of public recognition, the chances of their parties winning big in the election, and so on.

Major television networks have since organised a number of panel discussions, which leaders of some of the largest political parties attended to discuss their policies. Such exercises enabled members of the public to see how party leaders, some of them considered frontrunners for the premiership, stack up against one another.

Party leaders were asked to explain why their parties promote certain types of policies, what they aim to achieve, and how they would go about turning their ideas into reality, as well as how they would find the money to finance them. People were able to see how these political leaders reacted to pointed questions under pressure and the full glare of television cameras.

People Power Party leader Samak Sundaravej has so far failed to show up for these televised political discussions despite being invited.

What we observed was that some party leaders came across as smarter, more articulate and more knowledgeable than others. People could also discern that some political parties have well-developed and coherent policies, complete with responsible financing options, while others are only pushing populist policies that pander to the gullible masses. In other words, the quality of political parties and their leaders was put on display for members of the public to see, and based on that they could then judge for themselves whether any of them deserve to be given the power to run the country.

Between now and election day, we should have more of these political discussions featuring the leaders of political parties big and small broadcast on television and radio to the widest audience in all parts of the country. People can only get a lot wiser by simply watching politicians being forced to discuss their policies within the framework of a rational public debate.