Demand Change, Opposition Urges UN

Burma’s opposition wants assistance in pushing for democratic reform from the new government.

2011.05.11
vijaynambiar305.jpg Aung San Suu Kyi speaks with Vijay Nambiar at her home in Rangoon, Nov. 27, 2010.
AFP

Burma’s opposition parties say they want the United Nations to press the country’s leadership for “true” political reforms as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special envoy makes his first visit to the Southeast Asian state since a newly elected government took power in March.

Vijay Nambiar, Ban’s chief of staff and special advisor to Burma, arrived Wednesday for a three-day visit during which he will meet leaders of the government and various political parties, including National League of Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ohu Kyaing, NLD’s information chief, said the U.N. must be part of a dialogue to push for “true democratic changes in Burma.”

“For a peaceful transition to democracy, the decision makers must take part in this dialogue. Now, with the new government in Burma, we propose a dialogue to facilitate these aims, and the U.N. Secretary General’s special envoy should use his position to mediate in this situation,” he said.

Burma’s military junta disbanded after November 2011 elections and turned over power to the new nominally civilian government, but the cabinet members are mostly former military figures.  Parliament proceedings remain behind closed doors.

Ohu Kyaing said the U.N. should step in to check what he called human rights violations committed by the military in Burma’s ethnic regions.

Political prisoners

He also cited the estimated 2,000 political prisoners who continue to languish in jail.

“Armed conflict in these [ethnic] regions has escalated following the November elections and is very dangerous for the country. The U.N. should mediate a truce or ceasefire for peace for the whole country,” he said.

“The freedom of political prisoners is also necessary for the stability and development of the nation, so the U.N. should work towards securing their freedom.”

Han Shwe, a Central Executive Committee member of the National Unity Party (NUP), a party linked to the former regime, also called for the release of all political prisoners through a general amnesty.

“We will ask the U.N. special envoy for the freedom of Burma’s political prisoners. We oppose the jailing of all political prisoners and prisoners of political conscience,” he said.

“We are asking for a general amnesty. We expected a general amnesty following the elections, but we have seen no progress yet. We are still waiting.”

Call for assistance

Khin Maung Swe, the leader of the National Democratic Front (NDF), a splinter group of Suu Kyi’s NLD Party, said he will urge the U.N. to increase its regular aid and assistance to the people of Burma in the hope that it would hasten democratic progress.

“It is important to receive this aid from the U.N. and from other international organizations ... Democracy will come to Burma after we have solved the nation’s social troubles and difficulties,” he said.

“We will urge the U.N. and other organizations to continue to provide aid for health, education, and the economy.”

Thu Wai, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Myanmar (DPM), said the U.N. should use its leverage to push the new government to make “a substantive transformation” of the country.

“The U.N. should urge the new government to use flexibility [in its policies] not only by making recommendations, but also by using means of persuasion.”

High-profile visit

Nambiar was scheduled to meet with Burmese government officials on Wednesday in the capital Naypyidaw and is expected to hold talks with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Thursday in Rangoon. He is also to meet with a number of other opposition officials on Friday.

Nambiar’s visit is his second to Burma since taking over the position of special envoy from Ibrahim Gambari, who last visited in June 2009.

Nambiar met with Suu Kyi during his first visit in November, shortly after her release from house arrest. He also urged members of the ruling military junta to address concerns of fraud following a widely-dismissed election held earlier that month.

Critics say Burma’s election lacked a legitimate opposition and was staged to ensure that members of the military junta would continue to hold the country’s top political positions in a nominally civilian government.

Nambiar is a former Indian ambassador to China, Burma’s biggest political and economic ally.

He has said that Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD party won general elections in 1990 but was prevented from taking power by the military junta, should have a place in Burma’s new political environment.

The U.N.'s special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, last visited the country in February 2010, but was refused access to Suu Kyi, then under house arrest. His requests to visit her since have also been rejected by authorities.

Ban last visited Burma in July 2009, when he met then-junta chief Than Shwe, but was also prevented from visiting the detained Suu Kyi.

Reporting by Khin Khin Ei for RFA’s Burmese service. Translated by Soe Win. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

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Anonymous
May 12, 2011 01:16 AM

It is a good step, but the question is "How serious the UN is?"