While Suu Kyi has been politically validated, human rights abuses are still widespread, writes CLIFFORD COONAN
BURMA’S NOBEL Peace laureate missed the last two elections because she was under house arrest at her home in Rangoon.
But the democracy icon was able to celebrate a historic landslide win for the National League for Democracy (NLD) yesterday, after her party won 43 of the 44 seats it contested in landmark byelections. The vote is the latest milestone in the opening-up of Burma and could prompt the West to ease sanctions.
“It is not so much our triumph as a triumph of the people who have decided that they have to be involved in the political process in this country,” Suu Kyi said.
“We hope this will be the beginning of a new era.”
The byelections were part of the dramatic reforms announced by president Thein Sein, a general in the former military junta that took power in a 1962 coup in the former British colony.
He also freed hundreds of political prisoners, relaxed censorship, permitted trade unions to operate, spoke to ethnic rebels in the border region and allowed the NLD to reregister as a political party.
Sanctions have been introduced over the past few decades in response to human-rights abuses and broader oppression, such as the violent crackdown on democracy in 2007, that have kept Burma, also known as Myanmar, isolated since.
You can feel the effect of the sanctions everywhere you go in Burma: poverty is widespread, cars are old bangers, there are few international brands and there is none of the export-fuelled well-being you experience among Burma’s neighbours – Thailand, for instance, a yardstick by which Burma measures itself.
However, the economy is going nowhere and so the government believes it must get rid of sanctions if it is to keep going.
Foreign investors are interested in Burma, a country rich in resources and with an untapped consumer market of about 60 million people, right at the heart of southeast Asia.
Analysts say the weekend vote is a positive sign. However, they also urged caution, especially while some political prisoners languish in jail, fighting continues between government troops and ethnic rebels, and human-rights abuses continue.
There were only 44 seats being contested in the byelection, although there are 664 seats altogether. The ruling party, combined with the military, still holds 80 per cent of seats. The military alone holds a quarter of the seats.
Benedict Rogers, East Asia team leader of Christian Solidarity Worldwide and author of a forthcoming book, Burma: A Nation at the Crossroads, welcomed the result as an indication of the true feeling of the Burmese people. However, he said it was just the beginning and urged the international community not to rush to end sanctions too quickly.
“There is therefore a need for the government to show its genuine commitment to reform by deepening this process, reforming the institutions, legislation and the constitution, releasing all remaining political prisoners, and ending severe violations of human rights in the ethnic states,” he said.
The government needed to initiate political dialogue with ethnic nationalities and end 60 years of civil war.
“The reforms so far should be recognised, welcomed and encouraged, but pressure should be maintained for more,” he said.
While some sanctions should be lifted to recognise the changes so far, the European Union, the United States, Canada and Australia should not lift all of theirs in one go, and should ensure some measures are retained until there is further significant progress.
The byelection outcome is sure to dominate this week’s annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit, due to be held in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
In Jakarta, a group of southeast Asian parliamentarians warned against too much euphoria.
“The byelection process in which Suu Kyi participated should not mean that others forget all the crimes committed by the regime,” said Eva Sundari, head of an interparliamentary group linked to Asean.
“We call on Asean countries in the upcoming summit in Phnom Penh not to display euphoria. There must be a fair approach over the serious human-rights violations there,” she said.