Goodbye, Thaksin. Is Berlusconi next?

On Tuesday, Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, resigned from his post only 3 days after his party won 57% of parliamentary seats (and 66% of the popular vote) in a snap election (and only a year after he led his party to a landslide victory in another parliamentary election).

Mr. Thaksin, by the way, was the richest man in Thailand at the time that he was first elected to power. He has since hidden his wealth by various means, such as 'selling' his company off to his family members at nominal prices.


Thailand isn't the only place in which the richest man in the country runs the show - Italy's richest man, Silvio Berlusconi, also happens to be prime minister - and there's a chance HE may lost his post too! We'll know after April 10th.


How did the richest men in Italy and Thailand rise to become their respective countries' prime ministers? And why would they want to enter politics, especially at such a grand and public level? Would Bill Gates ever run for president of the United States?

Thaksin and Berlusconi founded their own political parties, Thai Rak Thai and Forza Italia, respectively, after becoming the richest men in Thailand and Italy, respectively. While Thaksin made his fortune in mobile telecommunications (but also partly in media), Berlusconi made his fortune in TV media (among other things). No doubt their wealth and their control the media helped their campaigns. As for Thailand, there were suggestions that Thais, weary from years of economic stagnation after setting off the Asian Economic Crisis, believed that if Thaksin were qualified enough to become the country's richest man, surely he could lead Thailand to prosperity. As for Berlusconi, it didn't hurt that he owns AC Milan, one of Europe's most popular football clubs, as well as a symbol of Italy.

The wealthy certainly have their advantages when it comes to electoral politics. It's not that difficult to transform money into power and influence. You don't have to look any further than the US and its political dynasties such as the Bushes-Walkers and the Kennedys. And it's no coincidence that Mike Bloomberg, ANOTHER media mogul (net worth: $5 billion USD), who spent $73 million USD of his own money on his 2001 election campaign, is now the mayor of NYC. With those kinds of funds, I bet Hitler could win an election in Israel!

Some people probably believe that Thaksin and Berlusconi sought the highest elected post in the land (the king is head of state in Thailand) because of their oversized egos and boundless ambition, or because they've achieved enough as business leaders and want to experience a new challenge, or that they have kind and noble hearts and want to make a difference. Other people may be more cynical. Some say Berlusconi sought the highest political post in the land in order to escape prosecution for improprieties (a.k.a. crimes) such as insider trading during his days as a businessman. Taksin, on the other hand, was forced from office due to his attempts to evade taxes from selling his - oops! I mean his FAMILY'S - remaining $1.88 billion USD stake in one of their firms.

Before we all condemn the extremely rich for entering into politics, let's look at one important potential benefit of having someone wealthy in public office: those who are wealthy enough and who can fund their own political campaigns may be incorruptible. In many democracies, political campaigns are costly affairs, and politicians must engage in a lot of fundraising. People or companies who contribute funding to political campaigns sometimes donate money to a particular political party or candidate because they believe in the candidate, but other times, they attach strings to such money. If, say, an arms contractor gives $10,000 USD to someone who's running for a seat in the Senate, perhaps the contractor would expect the candidate, if elected, to not only vote for an increase in arms spending, but also to award arms contracts to their firm. This is the scourge of many democracies, especially the world's second biggest democracy. I believe that without such campaign funding and lobbying, Americans would be driving electric cars, smoking would be banned, gun ownership would be strictly controlled, and vice presidents wouldn't orchestrate wars and award 'reconstruction' contracts to their former companies.


Despite Thaksin's resignation and the possibility that Berlusconi's Forza Italia and its coalition partners may lose the upcoming election, Thaksin and Berlusconi have the distinction of being the longest-serving democratically elected prime ministers in Thai and (post-war) Italian history. Even as late as the 1990's, Thailand's prime ministers have been known to be overthrown in military coups. A look at the list of Thai prime ministers will show that roughly half of them also have military titles. Civilian prime ministers usually last for less than a year, while some military prime ministers such as Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn hold onto their posts for as long as a decade! As for Italy, those of you who know politics know that Italian politics has always been a joke and that prime ministers and parliaments, like civilian Thai prime ministers, rarely last more than a year. In the 20th and 21st centuries, only Benito Mussolini has been prime minister longer than Berlusconi, and we all know Berlusconi is nowhere near as manipulative, ruthless, or power-hungry as Il Duce.