Posts Tagged "Myanmar"

Democracy in Myanmar

Posted by admin on Jun 7, 2010 in Articles | 0 comments

Democracy In Myanmar- an Oxymoron

The concept is no more than a contradiction, in a country where the daughter of a national hero, still lies under house arrest.
The ruling Burmese military junta has kept democracy under lock and key since Beatlemania. When General Ne Win first put an independent Burma under lockdown, Fidel Castro was just getting settled in Havana. That the Southeast Asian nation, under the thumb of despot Senior General Than Shwe, is set to hold democratic elections next year, is of little consolation to those inside and outside the country who have tried in vain to affect change behind the lines of the cabalists for the last decades.
A recent visit by the UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari, for what UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon envisioned as “a view to further promoting national dialogue and reconciliation,” had Gambari left out in the cold by the Senior General, who was apparently attending to more urgent activities. So insular are the Generals, they built from scratch a new city for themselves from which to rule. They say they will hold democratic elections in 2010.
The generals have shown they are contemptuous in the extreme to outside interference, evidenced by their self-sabotage in the wake of Cyclone Nargis last year, where most international aid workers ready to help were stranded in Bangkok waiting for visas that never came (they waited for business or tourist visas—Myanmar does not offer a visa for aid workers).
“Let them eat worms,” said one general after the disaster that left thousands of Burmese homeless. The Saffron Revolution less than two years ago was quashed with brutality. At the time, photos in Thai newspapers of the army shooting down pods of protesting monks in Yangon and Mandalay, were as crass as they were cruel.
Democracy in Burma: The concept is no more than an oxymoron in a country where the woman who won a landslide victory in the country’s last democratic election in 1990 etches the 14th consecutive year of house arrest into the walls of her Yangon residence. The legal leader of Myanmar is guarded around the clock by military guards.
Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of a national hero in Myanmar before the 1962 coup d’état, has been absent at various ceremonies around the world that would bestow awards, as prestigious as the Nobel Peace Prize, on her. 2008 was the year the junta was set to review her sentence, but it found the 63 year-old detainee too fierce a threat to let roam freely.
A free and democratic election would likely give Suu Kyi and her party their day in the sun, as according to various reports on the ground, she still enjoys much public support. The junta’s public willingness to go through with the electoral process is perplexing, but according to recent articles published in Asia Times Online, the junta is operating in complete accordance with its character.
On a recent visit to Burma, reporter Jacob Baynham met a man who, after sidling up to him, said in hushed tones, “All people like Aung San Suu Kyi, but talking, danger.” Baynham reported 1 in 4 people in the former capital, Yangon, are government informants.
Journalist Norman Robespierre (a pseudonym) reported at least eight ministers, including the mayor of Yangon, would be stepping down before the 2010 elections. He says, “Several of the outgoing ministers have served especially long tenures for Myanmar’s cut-and-thrust politics and are expected to run for office at the upcoming polls under a military-supported political party.”
Perhaps they’ve been taking notes from the political turmoil in neighboring Thailand, where ousted and exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has managed, in absentia, to keep his pawns in play at Bangkok’s Government House. Also mimicking Thaksin’s tactics in Thailand, the ministers stepping down are using the upcoming elections to add to their personal purses.
“There are several allegations of top government officials using their positions to ramp up personal business activities before the 2010 transition towards democracy,” wrote Robespierre about the country that rates amongst the world’s worst in graft ratings, “…if the reported ministerial changes come to fruition, the departure of some of the junta’s longest-serving members will open up to a new generation of soldiers and regime loyalists some of the most lucrative ministerial positions in government.”
In a country squeezed for years by international sanctions where most of the population lives on US$1 per day, what could be so lucrative for the ruling class?
Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization, F. William Engdahl, said in a recent article that, after Afghanistan, Myanmar is the largest source for the world’s heroin, as well as being “Southeast Asia’s largest producer of methamphetamines.”
But aside from the drug trade, Myanmar is a source of what will always draw first-world powers—oil and gas; something that governments, in the quest for supplies, are willing to overlook things like human rights and fascism to secure. And In Myanmar, you go through the generals.
In 2002, said Engdahl, pressure from the British government forced two western firms, Texaco and Premier Oil, to withdraw from a drilling project in Yetagun, a pull-out Malaysia’s Petronas was glad to slurp up. For less scrupulous governments, or government not answerable to their populous—read: democratic—Myanmar is a geopolitical golden goose. Thailand’s pipeline to Burma is worth US$1 billion a year, according to Engdahl, and a democratic post-junta government in Burma may not be so eager to let China suck its oil fields dry through the foam of an unaccountable oligarchy.
Democracy in Burma? With the Generals pawning their country off like a game of Monopoly at the inhumane expense of their people, energy hungry neighbors eager to exploit resources would rather skip the democratic process. According to Canadian attorney and financial activist Robert Amsterdam, the UN is where beneficiary countries like China stall the international condemnation against the junta, by their “authoritarian veto” power.
And with the US and China still lead astray by the southeast Asian peninsula from the view of military positioning that hasn’t changed much since the Vietnam War, the answer, for now, would have to be No.

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Collective Effort of Asean and Major Regional Power (india and China) Can Restore Democracy in Myanmar

Posted by admin on May 31, 2010 in Articles | 0 comments

Collective effort of ASEAN and Major regional Power (India and China) can restore democracy in Myanmar

 

By Vikash Anand ( scholar  of International Politics, Delhi, India)

 

Some days ago, ASEAN has expressed “deep disappointment” over Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s detention in a meet of bloc`s 10 foreign ministers. The statement issued by ASEAN is   one of its strongest statements yet on the issue. Only verbal swipe will not bring change in the attitude of junta and can make Burmese people free from world’s most closed and repressive military government.

Multiparty election in 1990 gave the NLD a decisive victory, but the military junta refused to relinquish power to democratically elected party NLD (National league for democracy) and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s. Aung San Suu Kyi`s has remained in government custody since May 2003. Since 1990 Myanmar is being pressurized for bring democracy and release of Aung Suu Kyi and other political leaders.

 

 The people of Myanmar desperately want to get rid of authoritarian regime of military junta. Because   their condition is becoming worse and worse. Myanmar is inviting China and other countries for quenching their thirst of oil and gas. But irony is that Burmese people receive only two hours of electricity in town from military government. Paraffin and wood are major sources of light and heat. In September 2007  a largest protest was launched by Monks against unreasonable fuel hikes by military junta. This protest was violently crushed by military government. Above 3000 people were killed by government forces and 2100 were detained. Whatever government, whether military or civilian, is in reign , they(Governments) use the power. Without power, a government would be useless as a car without a engine. The main thing is that how to use the power and for which purpose power is being used. American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1967) has mentioned ‘power to’ approach. It emphasizes on power to rather than power over-on the capacity to achieve goals, rather than to exercise control over other countries or people. He interpreted power as the capacity of a government to draw on the obligation of its citizen so as to achieve collective purposes such as law and order ,protection of the rights of citizen and environment. Generally power to approach is perceived as common phenomena in Democratic government. Burmese military government is applying Power over approach to run the country. Military government in Myanmar is using power to exercise control over their people not for achieving collective purposes (requirement of citizen). In Myanmar only return of democratic leader in power can change deteriorating condition of its citizens.

   Without pressure and cooperation of ASEAN member and regional power China and India,  it doesn’t seems possible to bring changes in attitudes of military junta  and accelerating the country  towards democracy. ASEAN is  getting fail on the issue of security in this region. ASEAN appears unable to achieve its goal of conflict management. Right from the beginning ASEAN was a mechanism of confidence building and conflict management, a mechanism of regional security. ASEAN`s Security community strongly emphasizes on democracy, development, human rights and fundamental freedom. But they should take hard step(in lieu of verbal criticism) against Military government for human rights violation and violation of fundamental freedom of Burmese people.

 

Civil society is emerging as major might to remove or change undemocratic forces all over the world. . But in Myanmar when military junta took the power since then it clamped down and suppressed the  civil society . September protest by monks was one of the brutal way of suppressing civil society. Rarely any free media institution exist in Myanmar now and days. ASEAN member with the help of United Nations can cooperate in promotion of civil societies in the country.

 America has imposed sanction on Myanmar. Sanction can only boosting moral of Burmese people. In fact, economic sanction  is making weak to Burmese people to fight against authoritarian reign of military junta. They (Burmese) have to do struggle for a square meal,  in this situation how is it  possible for them fighting to restore democracy.

 

If we look into Chinese engagement with Myanmar, it seems that China is not much interested in restoration of democracy in Myanmar. The resolution brought by US in UNSC against military government of Myanmar was opposed by China and Russia. It (China) seems reluctant toward saving Burmese people `s fundamental right, and restoration of democracy. Actually China`s involvement with military government is only exploiting oil and gas of Myanmar and selling arms to military government.

 That is why one women of Myanmar stated “China is good friend of Burmese government, not its people. They are like brother and brother in law.”  It shows that China backing Myanmar only it’s economic benefiting.

 India is also regional power like china. So India, too, is important for change in Myanmar.

 India enjoyed good relation with Myanmar during 1948 to 1962 . But after taking over power of Myanmar by undemocratic military government in 1962 , relation with India became sour . This sort of relation, more and less , remained continue till  Rajiv Gandhi regime. But during Narshimaha Rao`s tenure India have to be soft towards Myanmar’s military government due to three important reason- first, containing china, second controlling insurgency in India’s nearth – east region  and third, India’s look east policy because Myanmar is center player of  ASEAN .

 But Pranab Mukherjee`s visit was not good indication for democratization of Myanmar and its people. It means to give morally support to military junta.

 India and China are major regional power of this region. If both power do work to gether, with the full support of ASEAN, Surely, at one point of time , Burmese people will  breath in democratic environment.