In congressional testimony June 11, NDI's regional director for Asia programs, Peter Manikas, provided an overview of recent political developments in Hong Kong, Myanmar/Burma and Thailand. He testified at a hearing, “Retreat or Revival: A Status Report on Democracy In Asia,” put on by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
Manikas concluded, Recent developments "are pivotal in the sense that they will largely determine the trajectory of democratic development in these countries in the months, and perhaps years ahead. The course of democracy in these countries also may affect the advance of democracy in the region as a whole."
Peter Manikas has served as senior associate and director of Asia programs at NDI for the past 20 years. Previously, he was NDI's chief of party in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and he earlier worked on Southern Africa programs.
