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Statesmen debate democracy's future

President Chen Shui-bian, center, meets former Romanian president Emil Constantinescu, left, former South Korean president Kim Young-sam, second right, and former Polish president Lech Walesa, right, at the 2008 Global Forum on New Democracies in Taipei on Friday. PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES

Collectivism contradicts human nature because it erases individuality, but a lack of prosperity and security could entice people to abandon democracy and revert to communism, two former East European leaders said last week at a forum in Taipei.

Former Romanian president Emil Constantinescu and former Polish president Lech Walesa were among the five former heads of state invited to speak on the challenges faced by the world's emerging democracies.

Both presidents are recognized for their achievements in combating Soviet-era communism and promoting democracy in their countries. Their efforts have been credited as the catalyst for the East European "wave of democracy" in the 1980s.

Other former leaders who attended the forum with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) were former South Korean president Kim Young-sam, former El Salvadoran president Francisco Flores Perez and former South African president Federick de Willhem.

Walesa, who received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 for his struggles for workers' rights in Poland, stressed that people would waver in their democratic beliefs if governments failed to provide a sound legal framework and economic prosperity after the promise of a better life following the fall of communism.

Walesa said the sustainability of a democratic society must be equipped with a set of comprehensive laws that safeguard the rights of the people, provide education to help people understand how to invoke the law and have the ability to "fatten people's wallets."

"Democracy leads to predictability which ultimately leads to global stability," he said.

Constantinescu, a former geologist whose four-year presidential stint was overshadowed by much opposition and an uncooperative legislature, agreed that only the adherence to democratic values could ensure the continuation of a free society.

The "rule of law" is the most crucial element in democratic sustainability, and the people must be fully convinced of the values of democracy in order to abandon their utopian vision of communism, Constantinescu said.

Intellectual elites and government leaders must educate people to understand what they are sacrificing and why their unselfishness is necessary to create peace and harmony, he said.

He went on to say a civil society that is inclusive and tolerant of diversity, is important in a democratic country because "it is a guardian of the people's rights."

However, he warned against the dangers of pseudo-freedom that in reality is only a cover-up for oligarchy, citing freedom of the press as an example.

"The number of media outlets in a country cannot be representational of the country's level of freedom if the government still has an overwhelming control over the industry," he said.

In an interview following the conference on Friday, Kim said cooperation -- whether on a regional or domestic level -- was the key to normal political development.

"When I was president, I faced an opposition in the parliament that tried to boycott everything the government wanted to do -- but an opposition leader and I managed to cooperate on certain issues," Kim said. "It's the nature of party politics that different parties hold different views, but it's important for parties to work together when necessary."

Kim also stressed the importance of keeping friendly relations with neighboring countries and "old friends" even when under political pressure.

"[South] Korea should not exclude the possibility of developing friendly relations with neighboring countries," and that includes Taiwan, he said.

Kim said that at his 80th birthday celebration, "I could have invited diplomats from the US, Russia or China," but he only invited the representative from Taiwan.

"This shows how much I treasure the ties between Taiwan and [South] Korea," Kim said, despite the fact that Kim was serving as president when South Korea switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

Kim said that since he was so well received by former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev when he visited the then Soviet Union as an opposition leader, he invited Gorbachev to visit South Korea when he was elected president.

"The Russian president at the time, Boris Yeltsin, was opposed to it and asked me not to meet with Gorbachev. I still invited Gorbachev to South Korea and met with him," he said. "I was on friendly terms with both of them."

However, Kim showed no compromise to communist regimes.

"Decades ago, there were a lot of communist countries around the world. Today, there are only a few -- such as North Korea, China, Cuba, and Vietnam," Kim said. "I believe they will eventually collapse. Going toward democracy and freedom is the trend."

Kim also admitted that unconditional aid programs to North Korea during his and his successor Kim Dae-jung's presidencies were a mistake.

"It was North Korea's fault that economic hardship resulted from its policies, so our aid programs were meaningless," he said. "One of the consequences is that people in South Korea became less aware of the danger of the communist regime. Then, whatever we sent in only went into the pockets of North Korean senior officials -- the ordinary people did not benefit from it at all."
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