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POLITICS AND POLICY



/* Written 24 Sep 11:00am 1998 by drunoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:reg.burma */
/* --------------" Politics and Policy "---------------- */

POLITICS AND POLICY
*******************
Recently there have been alarms and criticisms raised by 
sources from certain quarters regarding with the
pro-democracy movement's lack of policy on various matters,
such as counter-narcotics efforts, economics etc. To large
extent, this is true: we still have no concrete policy and
plan on many matters to begin with. Then again, it is not
to be too desperate, at this stage, about ourselves to be
able to put forward plans. On the otherhand, we must, in
all fairness, expect Aung San Suu Kyi and our leaders to
come-up with all necessary solutions on these matters.
To be able to devise solution to these problems, an open
and transparent political environment is required as a
starting point. We could then make a gradual build-up
of ideas and start on consolidating policies.

DOING POLITICS: WHAT DOES IT MEANS?
***********************************
It is a rather provocative, at this point, to ask any Burmese
activists about their own "interpretations" of doing politics.
While there is no one right way to accurately describe it, my
own interpretation of "doing politics" is that of consolidating
and implementing policies. We can see that this task is not a
striaghtforward and simple by any means.

FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES
******************
In politics, there are issues of fundamental nature which
everyone could see problem exists but difficult to solve and
tackle effectively. For example, issues such as homelessness and
drug-addiction in America, the unemployments in Australia and
many developed countries, are such fundamental issues. 
Fundamental nature of such issues may be apparent when
considering in those countries--USA, Australia etc.--problems
persist despite attempts by many competent policy-makers 
with governments of all persuasion are committed to solving 
these issues. 

All issues related to political transitions may also be considered 
as fundamental. For example, economic transitions in Russia and
Eastern Europe; economic globalization in many of developed and
developing countries are also considered to be issues of
fundamental nature. Our own case of human rights problems and
transition to democracy is also of the fundamental problems.
Refugee problems around the world, for example, are cartainly 
of the fundamental problems.

POLITICAL CONSOLIDATION IS NEEDED
*********************************
On tackling political problems, first and foremost, the accurate
data and assessments about situation are required. For example,
when we tackle the problem of forced labour in Burma--a human
rights problem--we must have accurate knowledge of how such
problem occured. In this respect, recent report made by ILO
inquiry can be helpful. After understanding the problem, the
next step is devising viable solution, i.e. promoting policy.
On tackling other issues, such as economics transition and
drug-eradication will also require accurate data and
assessments. It can be seen that the grassroots participation
in collecting data/ideas have been very important, as many
of above examples showed. Likewise, a parliament as a formal
institution or a newsmedia(censorship-free one) are pricipal
tools to serve in grassroots participation of political 
process.

In an absence of formally organized political entity (in a 
movement, for example) the grassroots initiatives are even more
important in implementing policies. When implementing a viable
public policy, it is more helpful in grassroots understanding of
policy than that of giving loyal supports to political leaders. 
In fact, the basis of political power of an entity, for example 
a political party, rests upon the understanding of
its policy-decisions by its supporters and general public.
In otherwords, the grassroots supporters, by themselves, must
be able to understand the issues and meaningfully participate
in implementing political policy. In a political movement,
the blind faith (or) blind supports to its leaders must at
all time be avoided.

With best regards, U Ne Oo.
*****************************************
___________________________________________________________________
!                     drunoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx                         !
!          http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~uneoo              !
!                    ***** NOW ALSO ON *****                      !
! http://freeburma.org/ (A one stop homepage for all Burma info.) !
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BURMA-DEMOCRACY ASIA: AUNG SAN SUU KYI AND PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT GO NOWHERE
DATE: 01:36 21-Sep-98
ASIA: AUNG SAN SUU KYI AND PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT GO NOWHERE BURMA DEMOCRACY (
FEATURE)
EDS: Note date refs in sixth par from end 	    
By Juergen Dauth of the Frankfurter Rundschau 	   

RANGOON, DPA - "The happiness of a simple, satisfied life keeps  
you young. It is much more beautiful, and certainly makes you  
happier, not to own anything." 	   

King Anawrahta offered the poor Burmese masses this pearl of  
wisdom, which has strong religious undertones in a Buddhist  
society, in the hope of reconciling them to their poverty. 	   

Now, almost 1,000 years after the king who ushered in Burma's  
"golden age", General Khin Nyunt builds pagodas to make merit marks  f
or his sins against their descendants. 	   

Khin Nyunt, of course, heads military intelligence and for the  p
ast decade has been the strongman behind the junta which oppresses  
the people of Burma as surely as Anawrahta ever did. 	   
Highly symbolic is the common sight in the country today of a  
saffron-robed Buddhist monk doing the daily absolution as ceremony 
 without a congregation. A lonely litany because the Burmese are no 
 longer willing to absolve their political masters. 	  

 There are, however, no signs that they are about to try 
 overthrowing them again. 	 

  Motivated by the People's Power movement which had toppled the 
 dictatorship in the Philippines two years before, the Burmese last 
 confronted their rulers directly a decade ago, hoping to end three 
 decades of military rule and to begin escaping the social hardship 
 plaguing much of the country. 	   

The Sangha, the brotherhood of Buddhist monks which a century 
 before had started espousing the political Buddhism of Phra O 
 Uttama, inspiring Burmese peasants to stand up to British  
colonialism, had been a major catalyst for change. 	   

It was a false understanding of their faith, the Sangha argued,
  for Buddhists to claim it endorsed authoritarianism and violently 
 arbitrary political power. 	  

 The Sangha even preached that following Buddhism's Eightfold 
 Path to deliverance meant resisting such morally illegitimate 
 government. 	 

  A unifying symbol still of relevance to the current generation 
 of young people had already been found in the general and hero of  
the Burmese liberation struggle, Aung San, who had followed in O 
 Uttama's footsteps to lead Burma to independence from Britain. Aung 
 San Suu Kyi would be effortlessly identified with the charisma of 
 her father, who was murdered by rivals in 1947. 	  

 Ironically, Aung San Suu Kyi had been without political ambition 
 when she returned to Burma after a long absence to care for her 
 mother. 	   

She had even less political experience, but earlier attempts to 
 introduce civilian government had ended in chaos. The small pool of 
 credible figures was exhausted, and the democracy movement had been 
 threatened with dismemberment by its own feuding factions. 

	   Against this background she was thrust atop the protest 
 movement. She set up the National League for Democracy, and when  
international pressure finally forced Burmese leaders to hold an  
election in 1990, the party won 80 per cent of the seats in  parliament. 

	   When the rulers refused to allow the NLD to take power, a vacuum 
 was created in which Aung San Suu Kyi was left to fight on as by 
 far the most prominent pro-democracy leader. 	  

 In her first public declaration, Aung San Suu Kyi had made it 
 clear that Buddhism inspired her political principles. "My refuge 
 is in Buddha," she said in one typical statement. "My future is in 
 dharma, the pure teaching. I take my shelter in the Sangha, the 
 holy order of monks." 	  

 She had not said a word about her actual political program, but 
 no matter - then. Aung San Suu Kyi legitimised herself with the 
 masses of deeply religious, rural Burmese who had not taken part in  
the 1988 uprising in Rangoon and who were still guided in almost  
all matters by the Buddhist heirarchy. 	   

Aung San Suu Kyi now realises that in the conservative Buddhist 
 hinterland there is not enough support for a militant rebellion. 
 Her goal is gentle persuasion, and in this she demonstrates an 
 inner strength and discipline that led to comparisons with Mahatma  
Gandhi.    That is no coindience: her mother having been Burmese  
ambassador to India, Aung San Suu Kyi spent much of her youth in  
New Delhi, where she studied the politics and philosophy of India's 
 non-violent independence movement. It was excellent training for 
 the martyr's role she would go on to play against the powerful 
 military dictators at home. 	  

 She has threatened them with few specific political objectives, 
 however. Indeed, her vision of the future - apart from reform of  
the governing system - has remained largely similar to theirs,  
except for one key point which has perhaps helped her popularity  
abroad. 	 

  "I think that no one in Burma wants for us to live in poverty," 
 she said at one point. "As soon as we have to come to some 
 understanding with the authorities, we will work on bringing 
 investment to Burma which will serve the welfare of the people." 

	   Her father had stressed Burmese nationalism and self-reliance, 
 and by breaking with his legacy in this way Aung San Suu Kyi opened 
 a breach that the junta could exploit, portraying themselves as the 
 champions of Aung San's policies and criticising his daughter for  
speeches that were increasingly western in tone. 	  

 Indeed, western politicians and news media became her major 
 propagandists, and the Nobel peace prize she won in 1991 served 
 only to brand her as a western lackey in the military's eyes. The  
generals cited centuries of Burmese history in which every opening 
 up of the country led to disaster. 	   

There would be no compromise with the NLD as long as they feared 
 Burma's interests would be sold out, the generals warned. It was on 
 this basis that they refused to acknowledge the 1990 elections and 
 arrested most of the League's deputies, sitting back ever since as 
 Aung San Suu Kyi - too internationally prominent to simply arrest -  
has continued to exhaust herself in trench warfare against them. 	   

Stopped three times in recent weeks outside Rangoon while  
driving to see rural supporters, for example, she prepares for a 
 fourth try; it gets headlines abroad, but does little for her
  popularity at home. 	   

In fact, the generals have long undermined her political base,  
purging the monasteries to make sure they are led, and young  
novices are taught, by politically reliable monks. Military  
intelligence now even decides who can become a monk in Burma. 

	   All this has cost the NLD leader her momentum in the contryside,
  and the political Buddhism of the early 1990s is being absorbed by  
Burma's traditionally milder, more passive form of the religion - 
 the cornerstone of which was laid by King Anawrahta almost a  
millennium ago. 	   

Nor can Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a US expert on Burma, 
 Ronald Findlay, fall back on a tradition of successful political 
 parties. Quite simply, Burma has none. 	  

 And an even bigger problem for her, the Rangoon-born Findlay 
 added, is her failure so far to come up with specific policies for 
 how the masses' huge problems would actually be solved under a  
democratic system. 	   

As Findlay rather bluntly put it: "She has nothing to offer  
beyond history - her father's history." 	   
****************************
        MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE
YANGON
Information Sheet

                      N0.A-0612(I)              18th September 1998 

 
SPECIAL FEATURE
Government of Myanmar Notes with Interest NLD Decision to 
Convene Parliament
		The Government of Myanmar noted with interest the announcement by the 
National League for Democracy on 17 September that it was forming a  10-person
commitee that will serve as a parliament to govern Myanmar.
		It is also interesting to learn that the NLD has decided that all laws
enacted in Myanmar since September 18, 1988 are illegal.
		It remains unclear which responsibilities of government this new 
committee intends to take over, what its policies are, or how it intends to
implement those policies. Will the committee also serve as the judicial and
executive branches of government, or only as the legislative branch ? Under
what constitution will it govern ? Will it defend Myanmar sovereignty ? Will
it send envoys to other countries ?
		It would be  interesting  to hear more about how this committee intends to
govern. Since it was formed ten years ago, the NLD has never put forth any
serious, specific ideas on the structure of government; economic policy;
counter-narcotics policy; foreign policy; defence policy; or, in fact, any
other area of governing.
		Moreover, the new committee appears to be confused even about its own
decisions. For example, the NLD has decreed that its new committee will serve
as a parliament until another parliament can be convened under the 1990
election law. However, the NLD has also decreed that all laws enacted since
1988 are illegal. So is the 1990 law valid, or invalid ? Under what law should
the parliament be convened ?
		While the NLD's committee puzzles over these issues, the current 
Government will continue to shoulder the real responsibilities of governing 
Myanmar, and will continue the National Convention that is writing a
Constitution that will lead to a stable, sustainable democracy in  Myanmar.
*************