Danger ahead as ballot losers take to streets

By Ding Gang Source:Global Times Published: 2014-2-26 20:03:01

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Is street politics bound to trigger bloody violence? Perhaps the answer is "no," according to Western political theories.

However, woefully, the case is true with many developing countries listed as democracies by the West.

Ukrainian protesters went to the streets with guns, and the demonstration in Thailand evolved into a fierce gun battle, with some even throwing grenades.

It is natural that the masses demonstrate in the streets when they are unsatisfied with the government, which is viewed as an inalienable part of a democracy that will otherwise fail to play its due role.

It is worth noting, nevertheless, that most Western demonstrators hold placards and even carry their children to lodge protests. We see them shouting slogans and occupying Wall Street in a peaceful way.

In contrast, in countries like Thailand, Ukraine, Egypt and Venezuela, protesters take to the streets with firearms, ready to start strife at any time.

Are these violence-oriented demonstrators attempting to overthrow the incumbent government safeguarding democracy? I'm afraid not, because they already have the right to vote.

They choose violence, the exact opposite direction of casting votes. The electoral system that Western countries have adopted to mitigate violence and crimp revolutions has developed into a hotbed for violent action.

Unlike the developed world, developing nations have witnessed a myriad of protests and demonstrations going to extremes in recent years.

In a world replete with ruthlessness and tyranny, the public is losing patience for peace. Antagonism is growing and gaining ground with the prevalence of the Internet.

Amid this violent struggle, a government stepping down may indicate the beginning of a calamitous duel which will lead to increasingly irreparable splits. Violence is devouring democracy like a colossal trap.

Multi-layered reasons, including debilitating institutions, a lack of sense of identity, sectarian contention and the sudden abruption of strongman politics, lead to violence-oriented street politics.

Nonetheless, few people have paid heed to the relationship between violence and the electoral system in these countries. In actuality, it is exactly the depression of opposition forces in electoral politics that has largely prompted violence to burgeon.

In these countries, left-wing parties adopting populist policies are often capable of garnering wide support from the lower classes that make up a majority of constituents.

After assuming power, these parties usually try to formulate more welfare policies with an aim to consolidate their position by sustaining public support.

For instance, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolás Maduro Moros have all taken such a political path. They have won the majority of votes because they are committed to improving the living standard of unprivileged groups.

When opposition parties fail to obtain power through elections, they get frustrated with sticking to legal political activities under the framework of the electoral system and likely resort to extreme actions.

Some of them choose violent street politics. They seek to intensify contradictions that will give rise to bleeding political wounds, and thus gain support from international public opinion.

And once demonstrations take a firm foothold, numerous extreme individuals, groups, or even nationalist organizations will take chance to vent their indignation and resentment.

They target particular objects, rob shopping malls or smashing banks, consequently compelling the government to take punchy countermeasures and further exacerbating such violence.

There is another somewhat strange phenomenon in that almost all the anti-government protests are hailed by the Western world.

Would they display the same sympathy if demonstrators appear with guns and grenades in the streets of London, Washington or Paris?

The democratic transformation in the developing world is ushering into a stage of escalated violence, a status many Western politicians have never anticipated. This will become a chronic conundrum of international politics in the 21st century.

The author is a senior editor with People's Daily. He is now stationed in Brazil. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn. Follow him on Twitter at @dinggangchina

Posted in: Columnists, Ding Gang, Viewpoint

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