[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Asiaweek editorial



--=====================_815180041==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"



--=====================_815180041==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

ASIAWEEK, NOVEMBER 3,1995

(Letters to the Editor can be sent to 
Letters Department, Asiaweek, 
Citicorp Center 34F Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 
fax: (852) 27515384, or e - mail editors@xxxxxxxxxxxx 
(include writers, name, address and telephone number)

EDITORIAL

Myanmar's Way

The Generals Must Work for National Reconciliation

Then Myanmar's military rulers released its most famous
political prisoner four months ago, hopes sprang worldwide
that a reconciliation would enable the troubled nation to make
progress on different fronts.  So far, though, there has been no
dialogue between the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  Having
reaped the publicity benefits of freeing the Nobel peace
laureate, the junta seems bent on marginalizing her.  The
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) recently
reinstated her as its secretary general, but authorities last week
nullified the move.  Yangon's ambassador to Thailand, mean-
while, says that a dialogue with her is unnecessary.  In fact,
Daw Sun Kyi may feel she is little better off than she was dur-
ing six years of house arrest.

If so, she won't be the only one losing out.  The nation will also
suffer - as will SLORC itself.  For by trying to leave Daw Suu
Kyi out in the cold, the generals will not only retard the
nation's economic and political progress but also put at risk
some real gains made so far.  One is the international goodwill
generated by her release.  Despite Daw Sun Kyi's expressed
reservations, Japan has resumed limited humanitarian aid to
Myanmar.  Oil giants Texaco, Total and Unocal have commit-
ted themselves to billion - dollar energy projects in the resource
rich country.  And ASEAN, which has long pursued a policy
of "constructive engagement" with Yangon, recently accepted
it as a signatory to the grouping's treaty of amity and
cooperation - a precursor to full membership.  Indeed, SLORC
has put some life into a moribund economy, passing business-friendly laws and building many roads, reservoirs, railways
and bridges.

The generals need to do more.  The $3 billion in foreign
investment that SLORC so proudly touts is but a fraction of
what the country needs for sustained economic growth.  Those
whose money is needed to help spark a real take - off have not
weighed in.  They include the big international lending agen-
cies, such as the World Bank and the Asian Development
Bank, as well as major global investors, most of them from the
developed countries.  They would feel more relaxed about
committing funds if Yangon is seen to be pursuing a course of
political liberalization - and reconciliation with Daw Sun Kyi.

By barring her from politics, the authorities also encourage the
world to view Myanmar's affairs in black and white with
SLORC, of course, depicted in the darkest shades.  So long as
Daw Suu Kyi is cast as a symbol of the generals' repression,
she can do no wrong - and they nothing right.  Allow her and
the NLD to play a meaningful role in national affairs, and
Burmese and foreigners alike will be able to assess their
strengths and weaknesses more dispassionately and accurately.

Such a course of action will likely focus minds on the myriad
practical problems facing the country -- and away from the
struggle or contribution of any one person.  It will not only
benefit Myanmar but also ease the pressure on SLORC.

For her part, Daw Suu Kyi has indicated that she wants to help
rebuild her country by working with her former jailers rather
than remain on any martyr's pedestal.  On her release, she
urged the junta and the opposition to work together, placing as
high a priority on economic progress as democratic reform. 
And since her release, she has taken pains not to engage in
high - profile political activity that would provoke SLORC. 
Such hard - headed pragmatism provides a solid basis for
cooperation.

The generals have a golden opportunity to begin the process of
reconciliation.   They have set up a National Convention,
which is drafting a constitution as a prelude to elections. 
Postponed several times already, the next session is now set for
late November.  SLORC should invite as participants not only
the political opposition, but also long - rebellious ethnic
leaders with whom it recently signed peace accords.  Such a
move would help ease enduring antagonisms among the
country's warring forces.  It would also boost the credibility
and the moral authority of any charter that emerges.

Daw Suu Kyi's own military associations should facilitate a
dialogue.  Some of her senior colleagues in the NLD were top
commanders in the armed forces.  They include Mr. Tin U and
Mr. Kyi Maung, both of whom were recently nominated for
key NLD posts.  And Daw Suu Kyi herself, of course, is the
daughter of General Aung San, the independence hero and
founder of the Burma Army.  At the least, such links ensure
that the two sides will have a common language in which to
talk.

How can fruitful cooperation be achieved? A key issue is the
role of the armed forces.  In a country where they pervade
almost every aspect of life, they must necessarily retain a key
function.  No attempt to exclude them from politics is practical
- a reality both Daw Suu Kyi and her supporters appreciate. 
The goal should be a plan that would have the military share
power with civilian politicians.  To persuade SLORC to do so,
the NLD should agree to an amnesty for generals and soldiers
who participated in the army's bloody 1988 crackdown against
pro-democracy demonstrators.  Without such a pardon, the fear
of retribution will make many in the military dig their heels in
against political reform.

The amnesty must work both ways, though: it should apply
also to those who opposed the generals and their actions at the
time.  The move would then be doubly beneficial, as it would
attract back to Myanmar some of those who fled after 1988 for
fear of persecution by the authorities.  They include not only
Suu Kyi supporters but also a large part of the nation's
intelligentsia.  During their time abroad, the latter have been
honing their professional skills, especially in the West.  Many
would like to return home, but only when the political mood is
more relaxed and they need not fear reprisal.  Without their
contributions, Myanmar simply will not be able to modernize. 

Besides broadening the participation at the upcoming
constitutional parley, SLORC must ensure that it is actually
convened as scheduled. In the past, the generals have found all
manner of excuses to delay it -- and postpone political reform.
After the charter is completed, the junta must hold new polls as
promised. It needs to ensure that  they are credible and, above
all, it must respect the results. Any repeat of the generals'
rejection of voters' choices, as happened after the 1990
election, will be catastrophic for the nation.  Indeed, with an
accord in place that ensures the army as well as the politicians
and ethnic minorities proper roles in national affairs, there
should be no reason for such action.

Five decades ago, Aung San told a gathering of leading figures
in the independence struggle: "Let me remind you of an old
way of ours, the classic way of getting things done - namely,
the people's way of self-help and mutual cooperation. We must
resurrect this way and inspire the people to work together in
the building of a New Burma." Today, his heirs in the armed
forces would do well to take his words to heart in their search
for national success. 



ASIAWEEK
Nov. 3, 1995
PASSAGE

REJECTED

Aung San Suu Kyi, 50, pro - democracy leader in Myanmar
who was released nearly four months ago after six years under
house arrest in Yangon; as the new head of the National
League for Democracy, a party she inspired to a sweeping
electoral victory in 1990; by the Election Commission of the
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC); in
Yangon recently.  Suu Kyi was reinstated in early October as
secretary general of the NLD along with two others who were
named vice chairmen of the party.  The NLD has said it isn't
bound to comply with SLORC's ruling on whether Suu Kyi
can lead the party.



--=====================_815180041==_--