"The new government under President Aquino – an analysis" is the title of a new FNF publication by Jules Maaten, the incoming Project Director for the Philippines. It sheds light on the newly elected Philippine President and his cabinet. Click here to download the report.

Succeeding the inauguration of President Benigno Aquino III, the euphoria of the Filipinos lingered. As a result of a previous unpopular government, people anticipated seeing changes, a fresh start of an efficient and trustworthy regime.
With Aquino’s pragmatic approach, his cabinet is a handsome mix of 26 old and new faces. 12 of his cabinet members were freshly recruited from business and academic sectors. Another 14 were former department secretaries and heads of keys government units, who would help ensure a smooth continuity of government administration. Some of the new cabinet members have cooperated with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom in the past.

Thai Foreign Minister, Mr Kasit Piromya, has met with representatives of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom and other German political foundations in Berlin. Mr Kasit invited the representatives of the foundations to directly engage in the reform processes in his country. He said that Thailand was in a phase of "education on democracy". This process lends itself to cooperation between Thai civil society and democracy promoters from abroad, he explained. Thai civil society needs to be strengthened and the problem of corruption in Thai politics needs to be tackled effectively. Village councils must play a greater role and the cooperation between the elected bodies needs improvement. During the meeting, Mr Kasit also asked for input from the foundation representatives regarding their work in Thailand. Dr. Christian Taaks, Head of the Asia Department of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, who was also present, then described the foundation´s cooperation with partners in Thailand. Mr Taaks said that this cooperation could be extended to the ASEAN inter-governmental or trilateral level. Also present during the meeting was Busaya Mathelin, the Director-General of the Department of European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.