request for information (r)

[mikio@xxxxxxxxx]

Dear friends,

Currently, two national authorities exist in Burma, and this is a great
step forward to achieve the transfer of the political power from the
military junta to the democratically elected government. Of course, one of
the great challenges for the government of the Burmese people is to win as
wide an international recognition as possible.

However, I am also interested to know what is going on at the local level
in Burma. In a number of Asian countries, democratisation has been
sustained and supported by the momentum coming from the parallel process at
the local level. This has been the case in Japan (as a Japanese, I don't
think that Japan has been a genuine democracy so far), where a successful
democratic change at the municipal level has just begun to spill over into
the national level. The same pattern may be observed in China, where the
on-going economic democratisation and increasing participation by the
people in the local political decision-making may pioneer the national
level political democracy. Perhaps, the most relevant to Burma is the
experience of South Africa. Well before the democratic forces took over the
power from the apartheid regime, there had been a "war of position" at the
local level. Activists and trade unionists set up the alternative centres
of authority in black townships, which acted as de facto local governments
providing necessary services to the local people, and thus gradually
sidelined and undermined the officially appointed ones.

I am wondering whether similar things are taking place in Burma. If we
consider the current economic situation in the country, particularly in the
rural area, I think the potential of alternative authorities to local
military councils is enormous. I feel if the democracy movement in Burma is
to be sustainable, it should be supported by a parallel process at the
local level as well as by the international community. The situation may be
more difficult in Burma under the SPDC/SLORC than the apartheid South
Africa: the former is much more totalitarian than the latter was. They
allow almost no space for independent activities by the local people. But
human beings can be creative.

Could any of you give me any information (or relevant websites, etc..
from where I can get the information) about initiatives by the local
Burmese people?

Thank you.

Mikio Oishi, in Kuching, Malaysia