2019/71, 26 August 2019
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo’s state address, delivered on August 16, was the last speech for his first term. The speech is important because it lays out the vision for his second term. In all three speeches he delivered on that day, President Widodo showed that he has changed the course of his administration. Mr. Widodo has turned away from populism that marked his first term. He now cast himself as a developmentalist.
2019/70, 23 August 2019
On 21 August 2019, social media giant Facebook claimed that it was ‘preparing for the 2020 General Election’ in Myanmar. For Facebook users and groups in Myanmar, this message had great significance. As the most popular social media platform in the country, Facebook is essentially the Internet for the majority of Myanmar people who are on-line.
2019/69, 16 August 2019
Newly appointed US Defence Secretary, Mark Esper, kicked off the final leg of his first international trip last Thursday (8 August) just as ASEAN was commemorating its 52nd anniversary. To reinforce US alliances and partnerships, he visited Australia, Japan, Mongolia, and the Republic of Korea. Esper will be the point man to execute Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy, which emphasises US support for ASEAN centrality. While confirmation of a new Pentagon chief may herald greater certainty for the US to engage with ASEAN and its member states on the emerging Indo-Pacific concept, ASEAN will have to wait its turn as other flashpoints jostle for Esper’s immediate attention. In recent weeks, US officials have had to manage the rapid pace of developments on the Korean peninsula following Pyongyang’s recent missile tests, as well as the escalating political and trade row between Seoul and Tokyo.
2019/68, 15 August 2019
Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha is learning to live with the reality of being head of an elected government in a parliamentary democracy: accepting full accountability for his deeds and speech, and coping with checks and balances.
2019/67, 15 August 2019
The National League for Democracy (NLD) government has been in power since 2016, and Myanmar is now heading towards general elections due in 2020. Two new parties, the Union Betterment Party (UBP) and the Democratic Party of National Politics (DPNP) — registered in April and May 2019 respectively — are entering the electoral domain.
2019/66, 2 August 2019
Anwar Ibrahim recently reiterated his policy stance that Malaysia should move away from race-based policies and instead focus on needs-based policies that target the poor. He further called for this shift to be accelerated. However, these spectres of reform, while popular with segments of Malaysia and the international community, are flawed, misguided and unrealistic.
2019/65, 29 July 2019
On 15 July, Myanmar’s Parliamentary Joint Committee for Constitutional Amendment submitted its final report. Dominated by members of the ruling National League for Democracy, the committee has offered a staggering 3,765 recommendations. Its report has ignited a wave of protests across Myanmar. These protests, largely though not exclusively in support of the effort of the National League for Democracy (NLD) to effect constitutional amendment, highlight a noteworthy feature of Myanmar politics. This feature is the cyclical nature of protests, and the fact that they coincide with political ups and downs.
2019/64, 25 July 2019
On 25 July, Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha presented to the Thai parliament his 35-page policy document, covering 12 priority areas and addressing 12 urgent issues.
2019/63, 24 July 2019
On 22 July, President Duterte gave his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) setting out the agenda for the second half of his single six-year term. Despite the speech running well over time, what was not mentioned may be more important than what was. For the first time, there was no mention of President Duterte’s most fundamental reform agenda, a federal Philippines.
“Changing Separatist Struggle in Thailand’s Deep South?” by Termsak Chalermpalanupap
2019/72, 29 August 2019