DEMONSTRATIONS IN cities across the US that followed the election of billionaire Donald Trump as the country’s next president are proof that democracy is still working in the most powerful country in the world, say observers.
The observers also stressed that marchers were disagreeing with Trump’s ideology and policies and by no means were they trying to take the president-elect down.
The comments came in response to an ongoing political phenomenon in the US where anti-Trump protests broke out after his election victory.
Protesters burned a giant effigy of an orange-haired Trump and set fires and blocked traffic late Wednesday as rage over the billionaire’s election victory spilled onto the streets of US cities.
From New York to Los Angeles, thousands of people in about 10 cities rallied against the president-elect a day after his stunning win, some carrying signs declaiming “Not our president” and “Love trumps hate”.
Sirote Klampaiboon, an independent political scientist, said the phenomenon was a result of the paradox in the electoral and popular votes.
“First of all, we have to understand that the election results are rather problematic. Trump won the election thanks to the electoral college votes from which he earned 279, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 228. But looking at how each American votes, it turns out that more people voted for Clinton individually,” he said.
This made his victory questionable, Sirote said, and it exacerbated people’s frustration that Trump will implement what he had pledged to do on the hustings. People are afraid that Trump will act negatively against migrants or minorities so they came out to express this, he said.
While people compared the protests with the previous civil unrest in Thailand, Sirote stressed that the American protesters were not marching against the election result or trying to prevent Trump from entering the White House. Rather, he said people were just sending a message using freedom of expression to Trump that his ideology and policies were against American values.
Pro-democracy political science lecturer Prajak Kongkirati observed that though Trump won the White House, Democrat nominee Clinton won the popular vote. Thus, Prajak said the poll result basically triggered people’s spontaneous frustration over the billionaire president-elect.
Prajak also pointed out that Trump’s divisive policies that he promoted during the campaign and the perception he, as president, would suppress minorities, university students, women and the LGBT also spurred people to protest.
“The protest was the backlash against Trump,” he said.
Janjira Sombatpoonsiri, an international affairs expert from Thammasat University, also said the liberal democracy values which lie at the heart of American’s national identity remained unshaken despite the protests.
She explained that the demonstrators were not exactly rejecting the election, but only showing that they were upset by it. People still had a strong faith in democracy and would be able to tolerate Trump’s four-year term until the next election.
Comparing the episode with the political conflict in Thailand, the lecturer explained that conflicts were very common in the US and existed far longer and perhaps deeper than conflicts in the Kingdom. However, everything is hitched to how the US has measures and mechanisms that can effectively cope with the issue and maintain peace, she said.
Attasit Pankaew, another political scientist from Thammasat University, agreed that the scattering of protests after Trump’s upset win did not affect democracy in the US because people had not opposed the poll result or called for the nullification of the election result.
“It was the showcase of freedom of expression. The protesters just expressed their frustration over Trump’s presidency,” he said.
Also, the voters did not hijack the electoral process which is the essence of democratic rule, Attasit added.
Similarly, Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, stressed that the protests were just people expressing their “unhappy” feelings toward the shock victory of Trump who was considered outspoken, arrogant and divisive.
“The Americans accept the result. They all want a peaceful transition of power,” said Robertson, who is also chairman of Democrats Abroad Thailand.
He added that the democratic essence in the US had not deteriorated. On the contrary, he said the protests highlighted the country’s freedom of expression.
US Embassy spokesperson Melissa Sweeney said the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, as well as the right to protest peacefully, were cherished American values.
These universal principles are essential to a strong and healthy democratic society, she said, adding that President Barack Obama stated yesterday that “the peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy”.
In a related development, the Pheu Thai Party and former prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday congratulated Trump on his election victory in separate letters addressed to him.
“I am certain that with your profound knowledge in business and world affairs, you will bring significant changes and make America great again,” Thaksin said in his letter.
“I trust that under your able leadership, the already close ties between Thailand and the United States will be strengthened further for the mutual benefits of our two peoples,” Yingluck said in her letter.