Posted by Kyaw Myaing on 11/27/2002, 11:21 am I am posting here the discussions that were contributed by H.E. U Kyaw Win (Myanmar's Ambassador to the UK) at the conference held at SAIS (School of Advanced International Studies), Johns Hopkins University, Washtington D.C. on 22-23 November 2002. {{ Reconciliation in Myanmar and the Crises of Change Enjoy!! Kyaw Myaing
165.65.35.6
Dear friends and fellow patriots,
>
> Panel I: Reconciliation and Progress to Date
>
> Presentation by H.E. Dr. Kyaw Win, Ambassador
>
> Embassy of the Union of Myanmar, London
>
> To most of the people living within the Union of Myanmar, the word
"reconciliation" for many decades has been synonymous with achievement of peace
with armed insurgencies that have plagued the country for the past fifty plus
years.
>
> This part of the "reconciliation" or what has been considered the priority
phase of this process-not only brought to an end to over 90%of the physical
confrontations, loss of lives and massive material destruction etc., but has
also brought in an era that has permitted reconstruction and rehabilitation of
areas that have lagged behind in their "development" for obvious reasons. This
has allowed, for instance, the construction of 145 major bridges across numerous
rivers, 136 irrigation dams, to name a few within the last decade, which would
have been routinely blown up and destroyed by the insurgents, especially if one
looks back to his student days in the 1950> '> s. Now that much of the fighting
has ceased and peace has been restored in most areas, one perhaps should not
underestimate the political influence that these former armed insurgencies
wielded and the magnitude of the political reconciliation that has also taken
place simultaneously. Even to the simple mind of a physician turned diplomat who
is old enough to have lived through all the political periods of his country
including the pre World War II and war time occupation periods, it is certainly
not difficult to grasp how long and arduous a process it has been to heal the
divisive politics imposed on the people by the colonial and early post
independent periods. During the period of fighting that followed, the so called
"brown" and "black" areas (meaning low or no security respectively) that
dominated the map of the Pyi-Daung-Su Myanmar Naing-Gandaw has indeed taken half
a century to shrink to a significant degree. To such a person it seems
absolutely imperative that this hard-earned "white" areas do not get diminished
once again by the residual or newly concocted divisive political winds blowing
in from more than one direction.
>
> It is obvious that there is still so much to be done in the course of
reconciliation, reconstruction, rehabilitation and finally a consolidation of
the achievements made to enable a relatively transition to a genuine multiparty
democratic political system.
>
> Cries and demands to immediately liberalize party politics, so loudly audible
in the past decade, seem to people living with the realties inside the country,
tantamount to demanding that "the cart be put before the horse", since the party
politicians played little or no role in this peace process.
>
> However, it should not be ignored that Dr. Maung Maung, during his short
presidency amidst the chaotic events of August-September 1988 did try to install
a multiparty political system and even went beyond what was permitted under the
Constitution of that period. But he was roundly rejected by the political forces
that were in effect precursors of the present day political parties.
>
> After it took over state power, the Government of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council continued the attempted transition by allowing political
parties to officially register and held, perhaps prematurely in hindsight, the
first major democratic exercise in 26 years in the form of the 1990 elections
for a constituent assembly. In that significant event, the Gov> ernment acted as
a referee and did not participate in the elections although erroneously assumed
by many that it supported the former Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP).
This once again led to a situation where those politicians who opposed Dr. Maung
Maung> '> s proposal again continued with their demands for immediate transfer
of power. The tensions that ensued in fact seem to be the reasons that created
the requirements for what has now become the more publicized second phase of the
reconciliation between the Government and the political parties that the Western
World is demanding to be speeded up and what is being under discussion today.
>
> Those who argue in favour of a slow and steady transition would say the
chaotic consequences that might follow premature political liberalization will
have to be borne by the people who live within the boundaries of Myanmar and
perhaps to a degree by her immediate neighbours but certainly not by those
political pundits from afar in the safe havens of stable developed countries.
For them, it should be little problem to shrug off another political
miscalculation as if it were another academic exercise, like they did when it
was Vietnam or Cambodia in the early nineteen seventies, especially those who
were justifying their actions based on the domino theory and so on with such a
great price. To speak metaphorically here, a physician does not assess the
condition of his patient based only on the present state of his health
especially if he is to prognosticate wisely. He routinely looks back to what the
condition of his patient was like in the recent past to make a judgement as to
whether the patient is recovering or deteriorating. One might apply the same
principle if one tries to prognosticate whether the political situation in
Myanmar is improving or otherwise. In this regard, one may assess the progress
of current political transition in Myanmar with specific questions like:
>
> 1. What was the relationship between the NLD and the Government of Myanmar
like three years ago and what it is like today? Consider the number of meetings
between the NLD and the Government. There have been tours and excursions all
over the country.
>
> 2. What are political parties and their leaders able to do now compared to a
few years ago?
>
> 3. How much cooperation has Myanmar extended to the UN in the past two years,
especially with the Human Rights Commission, the ILO, and with the Secretary
General?
>
> 4. How has the ICRC been establishing itself throughout the country and
carrying out its mandate?
>
> 5. What was the degree of support Myanmar received this year from the
afro-Asian delegations when it dissociated itself from the U.N. Resolution on
the Third Committee? In fact, 16 delegations spoke, supported and criticized the
E.U co-sponsors for shifting the goal post every time Myanmar took a positive
political step.
>
> Most likely, I will overshoot my time allocation by trying to answer them
myself in too much detail, so perhaps I should rather let the distinguished
audience remind themselves as to what has been "the progress to date" in the
reconciliation process which has been stressed time and again that it is
evolutionary in nature from the start, not a revolution or an overnight
transformation.
>
> This point is often missed and people who assume erroneously that the positive
steps were taken in Myanmar because of their pressures are getting awfully
impatient. They are likely to get even more disappointed when they see that the
evolving politically change is not conforming conveniently to their political
tenures or length of their missions. One need not look back that far to identify
the main reason that caused the Government to temporarily restrict the
politicians around 1999 with the calculated risk of raising the tensions with
them.
>
> The summer of 1998 saw dozens of well funded foreign activists from western
countries, posing as tourists and entering into the capital city to incite
unrest, with subsequent arrests and deportations. In 1999, two Brit> ish
activists, one of them now a conservative politician, received much publicity
when they did the same thing with the common objectives of recreating the
anarchic events of 8-8-88 on 9-9-99, a date seemingly auspicious to believers of
numerology.
>
> The quiet support of western governments on such intrusions of Myanmar> '> s
sovereignty raised the concerns of Myanmar authorities who in turn requested
party politicians to temporarily scale down their activities leading to some
unpleasant incidents in early 2000 when the Government resolve was physically
tested.
>
> The present day positive steps have been possible simply because of the stable
internal situation and absence of such intrusive gestures from abroad. But I
should leave future projections on this issue to the distinguished panel members
of the closing session. But there is little doubt that the speed of change will
continue to depend on how much goodwill and cooperation Myanmar receives from
the international Community.
>
> Always relying on the only form of professional education that he has had like
it is in my case, a physician never forgets that in his lifetime all he could do
is to rely on the dictum "cure sometimes- relieve often-comfort always".
>
> Mr. Chairman,
>
> How many problems in the world today are curable? And what are the world> '> s
leaders trying to do after all? The words of Professor Paolo Sergio Pinheiro
that the present delicate situation in Myanmar "needs to be handled with care
and generosity on the part of all those who wish the people of Myanmar well"-
are certainly in keeping with this dictum. This approach, in my opinion, still
carries the best chance of a natural recovery to a state of health that is
strong and sustainable.
>
> Thank you
>
>
>
>
>
> ************ }}
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