Southeast Asia suffers from a crisis of leadership whereby the old guard are unwilling to make way for new and younger leaders to emerge through compromise and accommodation to usher in change and reform while maintaining a measure of continuity.
Where term limits apply, such as in Indonesia, the Philippines and communist-ruled Laos and Vietnam, incumbent leaders are required to leave after a stint or two but often they end up arranging their offspring and protégé to take their place. Where term limits do not apply, such as in Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, entrenched leaders can hang around for a long time and leave dynastic and proxy rule in their wake.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak teaches International Relations and directs the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
