Encouraging signs from Myanmar on reforms
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury
The reformist moves by Myanmar's nominally civilian government do otherwise seem to be quite encouraging, even though it remains to be seen how far the authorities there will really go for bringing about the desired changes, in consonance with the need for unalloyed expression free will of the people. The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, is the last of the important figures from abroad to visit the country, calling for genuine democratic reforms that would enhance Myanmar's image abroad.
The reclusive south east nation -- still known as Burma in the international arena -- has been very much in news for sometime past; it has been in good light. Several foreign dignitaries including the Thai Prime Minister, Ingluck Shinewatra, the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and British International Development Minister, Andrew Mitchell, traveled to the country in recent times for talks with its President Thein Sein and of course, also with the leader of democracy, San Aung Suu Kyi on reforms there.
Hillary's visit was the first in last fifty years by an American dignitary of her status. It was a much talked-about matter as her talks took place in the aftermath of the willingness of the regime for democratic reforms that the people of Myanmar have long been lingering for. The country has been under the military rule since General New Win seized power in 1962 and remained so until now, even though its present regime claims itself to be a representative government following last year's controversial elections. It is a nation where a lady known as "icon of democracy" has been struggling for last many years for establishing popular rule and her difficult quest for democracy earned her the Nobel peace prize. But Aung San Suu Kyi, who was earlier denied power despite winning the elections way back in 1992, still remains midway in her arduous struggle through the complex task of democratisation of her country.
However, as a positive fall-out from the visits of the foreign dignitaries, certain changes are discernible in Myanmar; this augurs well for the country's democratic reforms. The regime has freed a good number of political prisoners while the opposition is asking for the release of the remaining more. A major development in the recent time in Myanmar has been the decision by Aung san Suu Kyi to contest the by-elections as a mark of her participation in the process, aimed at establishing representative authority in governance. Her party -- National League for Democracy (NLD) -- boycotted last year's polls which were 'won' massively by the supporters of the regime.
The country's rulers now state that theirs' is a "popular" government. However, the democratic world was highly critical of that balloting process last year as lacking in the credibility of its outcome. Suu Kyi's party was not registered with the election commission although it won a landslide victory in the 1992 voting. The elections carried little legitimacy as the nation has continued to be ruled by the same group of people -- albeit under a different façade. The democratic leader -- Aung San Suu Kyi -- remained under house arrest for long and this spell of internment ended only after the conclusion of the so-called elections.
But rather surprisingly, the reformist leadership of President Thein Sein, a retired general and former Junta member, has now persuaded the opposition force to register itself as a political party and contest the coming by-elections. Suu Kyi is running for one of the seats in the by-elections on April 01; this is being considered as a step forward in the right direction. The regime has also allowed anti-government protests to a limited extent. Such protests were totally prohibited earlier. All these developments do send some positive signals from Yangoon about the shape of things to come in the future.
Business and other contact groups from the West are now showing interest in Myanmar. However, the earlier Western restrictions have not been very effective as several countries including China, India, Thailand and Singapore have been in close trade and business interactions with Yangoon, despite the latter's lack of democratic credentials since long. Evidently, regional political and other strategies have been playing a role here and Beijing and even the democratic New Delhi have been seen to be wooing Myanmar for strategic reasons.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has not yet announced total withdrawal of the sanctions imposed earlier, on grounds of lack of effective political reforms and continuation of a de facto iron-fist rule on the opponents still there in Burma. But the concessions are seen as encouragement by the West for reconciliation with the country that had show scant respect for human rights as well. President Barack Obama surprised the world to an extent when he had announced about the visit of his Secretary of State to Myanmar, at a regional summit in Bali, Indonesia last November.
Myanmar is also conscious that it is getting the opportunity of leading the regional grouping ASEAN in the coming years; this makes it all the more keen to open up and embrace democratic principles as far as possible. For, it can not justify that position as the fellow ASEAN members have demonstrated their obvious preference for representative governments in the region in recent years. The Prime Minister of democratic Thailand during her visit had expressed the hope that the pace of political reforms would be faster in Myanmar. Now, the British Foreign Secretary has called for wider reforms in the country for embracing the principles of democracy.
The release of all remaining political prisoners, free and fair by-elections, humanitarian access to people in conflict zones and credible steps towards national reconciliation are among the areas that the regime in Myanmar needs to ensure sooner rather than later in order to make its mark for demonstrating its steady course on way to genuine reforms. (zaglulbss@yahoo.com)
The reformist moves by Myanmar's nominally civilian government do otherwise seem to be quite encouraging, even though it remains to be seen how far the authorities there will really go for bringing about the desired changes, in consonance with the need for unalloyed expression free will of the people. The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, is the last of the important figures from abroad to visit the country, calling for genuine democratic reforms that would enhance Myanmar's image abroad.
The reclusive south east nation -- still known as Burma in the international arena -- has been very much in news for sometime past; it has been in good light. Several foreign dignitaries including the Thai Prime Minister, Ingluck Shinewatra, the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and British International Development Minister, Andrew Mitchell, traveled to the country in recent times for talks with its President Thein Sein and of course, also with the leader of democracy, San Aung Suu Kyi on reforms there.
Hillary's visit was the first in last fifty years by an American dignitary of her status. It was a much talked-about matter as her talks took place in the aftermath of the willingness of the regime for democratic reforms that the people of Myanmar have long been lingering for. The country has been under the military rule since General New Win seized power in 1962 and remained so until now, even though its present regime claims itself to be a representative government following last year's controversial elections. It is a nation where a lady known as "icon of democracy" has been struggling for last many years for establishing popular rule and her difficult quest for democracy earned her the Nobel peace prize. But Aung San Suu Kyi, who was earlier denied power despite winning the elections way back in 1992, still remains midway in her arduous struggle through the complex task of democratisation of her country.
However, as a positive fall-out from the visits of the foreign dignitaries, certain changes are discernible in Myanmar; this augurs well for the country's democratic reforms. The regime has freed a good number of political prisoners while the opposition is asking for the release of the remaining more. A major development in the recent time in Myanmar has been the decision by Aung san Suu Kyi to contest the by-elections as a mark of her participation in the process, aimed at establishing representative authority in governance. Her party -- National League for Democracy (NLD) -- boycotted last year's polls which were 'won' massively by the supporters of the regime.
The country's rulers now state that theirs' is a "popular" government. However, the democratic world was highly critical of that balloting process last year as lacking in the credibility of its outcome. Suu Kyi's party was not registered with the election commission although it won a landslide victory in the 1992 voting. The elections carried little legitimacy as the nation has continued to be ruled by the same group of people -- albeit under a different façade. The democratic leader -- Aung San Suu Kyi -- remained under house arrest for long and this spell of internment ended only after the conclusion of the so-called elections.
But rather surprisingly, the reformist leadership of President Thein Sein, a retired general and former Junta member, has now persuaded the opposition force to register itself as a political party and contest the coming by-elections. Suu Kyi is running for one of the seats in the by-elections on April 01; this is being considered as a step forward in the right direction. The regime has also allowed anti-government protests to a limited extent. Such protests were totally prohibited earlier. All these developments do send some positive signals from Yangoon about the shape of things to come in the future.
Business and other contact groups from the West are now showing interest in Myanmar. However, the earlier Western restrictions have not been very effective as several countries including China, India, Thailand and Singapore have been in close trade and business interactions with Yangoon, despite the latter's lack of democratic credentials since long. Evidently, regional political and other strategies have been playing a role here and Beijing and even the democratic New Delhi have been seen to be wooing Myanmar for strategic reasons.
The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has not yet announced total withdrawal of the sanctions imposed earlier, on grounds of lack of effective political reforms and continuation of a de facto iron-fist rule on the opponents still there in Burma. But the concessions are seen as encouragement by the West for reconciliation with the country that had show scant respect for human rights as well. President Barack Obama surprised the world to an extent when he had announced about the visit of his Secretary of State to Myanmar, at a regional summit in Bali, Indonesia last November.
Myanmar is also conscious that it is getting the opportunity of leading the regional grouping ASEAN in the coming years; this makes it all the more keen to open up and embrace democratic principles as far as possible. For, it can not justify that position as the fellow ASEAN members have demonstrated their obvious preference for representative governments in the region in recent years. The Prime Minister of democratic Thailand during her visit had expressed the hope that the pace of political reforms would be faster in Myanmar. Now, the British Foreign Secretary has called for wider reforms in the country for embracing the principles of democracy.
The release of all remaining political prisoners, free and fair by-elections, humanitarian access to people in conflict zones and credible steps towards national reconciliation are among the areas that the regime in Myanmar needs to ensure sooner rather than later in order to make its mark for demonstrating its steady course on way to genuine reforms. (zaglulbss@yahoo.com)