CALD Participates in Global Democracy Coalition

“The defining challenge of our time.”

This was how US President Joe Biden described the global crisis of democracy in his remarks at the opening session of the Summit for Democracy.

Held on 9-10 December 2021, the US-initiated virtual Summit “brought together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set the agenda for democratic renewal and to tackle the greatest threats faced by democracies today through collective action.

On the sidelines of the event, the Global Democracy Coalition – a multi-stakeholder coalition for democracy convened by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) – held a series of virtual forum to contribute to the global conversations on democracy and provide inputs to the Summit for Democracy. A compiled report on this virtual forum can be found here.

Part of this Global Democracy Coalition Forum was a webinar entitled, “Myanmar and Cambodia’s Democratic Recession: Global and Regional Implications”, jointly organized by the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD) and the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).

This webinar aimed to understand the severe democratic backsliding in Myanmar and Cambodia, with the goal of proposing specific and concrete recommendations on what the global democratic community can do to support the democratic movements in these countries. It was conceptualized based on the belief that strengthening democracy in Southeast Asia strengthens the case for democracy around the world. After all, the subregion could be considered as being in the frontlines of the democracy vs. autocracy debate.

The webinar came up with the following recommendations:

• We need coordinated solidarity with opposition movements in repressive contexts – including information & technology sharing, emergency funding, support in mobilizing recognition and media support.
• To International community: Do not be fooled by sham elections, or acknowledge authoritarian coups, be they constitutional coups like in Cambodia, or military coups like in Myanmar, as fait accompli.
• To full-fledged democracies: They need to practice what they preach and ensure that the benefits of democracy can be appreciated and felt by everyone.
• Instead, recognize and support the democratic forces as legitimate actors, listen to the people affected by the authoritarian regimes – they do not deserve any less democracy than other parts of the world.

Former CALD Chairperson Sam Rainsy of Cambodia National Rescue Party, Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice and Leena Rikkila Tamang of International IDEA served as resource persons in the webinar moderated by Veronica Pedrosa.