Historic New Parliament Opening In Myanmar
Myanmar’s newly elected politicians, most of them from pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, have taken their seats in parliament for the first time, in a landmark session that was meant to install the first democratically chosen government in half a century.
The session on Monday marked a historic turnaround for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which was suppressed by the country’s army for years.
The party won 80 percent of the elected seats in general elections in November, qualifying it to form a government and end nearly 50 years of military rule.
SUU KYI'S VICTORY: A BOOST FOR OPPOSITION, A WARNING FOR MALAYSIAN PM?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - As more news coming out from Myanmar indicate that pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD party had won a string of by-elections held over the weekend, Malaysia's opposition has begun celebrating the start of what they see as the eventual fall of yet another authoritarian regime in Southeast Asia."Congratulations to the voice of freedom and justice," tweeted Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, the first to laud Suu Kyi with whom he has often been compared as the region's two best-known democracy fighters.
Indeed, whether or not Myanmar's military junta will renege on the NLD's stunning victory as it did in 1990, Suu Kyi's landslide win is already a huge morale booster for the reformist Anwar and his Pakatan Rakyat coalition as they gear up for landmark polls that may see the fall of the Umno-BN after 55 years of ham-fisted rule.
Apart from Indonesia, and the Philippines, the rest of Southeast Asia are basically pseudo-democracies. Even Singapore, while qualified to be an OECD nation, is heavily lagging in terms of democratic rights with the government actively policing the actions and even the thoughts of its society. The only saving grace is the relative lack of corruption in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's government.
However, the same cannot be said for his Malaysian counterpart, Prime Minister Najib Razak, who has steered the country into its worst ever quagmire of corruption and graft. Using a dangerous cocktail of racism and religious bigotry, Najib is now pinning his last hopes on scaring the Malay electorate - the biggest in the country - into rejecting Anwar and Pakatan in nationwide polls expected to be held later this year.
But like the Myanmar people, the Malaysian folk are expected to plumb for change and reform. More than RM1 trillion of taxpayers' money has been illegally siphoned out of the country due to corrupt officials since 2000, and Najib's own department has forecast national bankruptcy by 2019 if structural reforms are not implemented to cut record-high national debt.- "From what happened in Myanmar in the past, it may be premature but we pray and hope that the junta will respect the wishes of the Myanmar people and recognize the NLD victories. The same goes for Malaysia.
Najib went to Myanmar last week, just before the elections and Malaysia also sent election monitors to watch the polls. We hope Najib will also respect democracy in his own country and allow election monitors to come here and observe our polls," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.- There are grave worries that Najib, the only Malaysian PM ever to be accused by the Washington Post of being a "champion of doubletalk", will resort to unprecedented cheating to keep the Pakatan at bay.
It is indeed ironic that he sent Malaysian observers to the Myanmar ballot but refused to allow foreign watchdog bodies to observe the local polls.There is even fear that Najib may stir up up riots so as to implement emergency or military rule in the event of electoral defeat. So far, Najib and his Umno-BN have refused to acknowledge a two-party system, although the Pakatan swept 5 out of 13 states in the 2008 election and won 52% of the popular vote.
SOLIDARITY AND SISTERHOOD IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY
YANGON, Myanmar - In a striking display of solidarity and sisterhood between two of the world's most recognisable women, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed yesterday to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi's long-isolated and authoritarian homeland.
Wrapping up a historic three-day visit to Myanmar, the first by a secretary of state to the south-east Asian nation in more than 50 years, Clinton and Suu Kyi held hands on the porch of the lakeside home where the Nobel peace laureate spent much of the past two decades under house arrest. Clinton thanked her for her "steadfast and very clear leadership".- Suu Kyi has welcomed Clinton's visit and tentatively embraced reforms enacted by Myanmar's new civilian government. She thanked the secretary and US President Barack Obama for their "careful and calibrated" engagement that has seen the United States take some modest steps to improve ties.
- As she did in the capital of Naypyidaw on Thursday, Clinton said more significant incentives will be offered, but only if the government releases all political prisoners, ends brutal campaigns against ethnic minorities, respects the rule of law and improves human rights conditions.
- "We are prepared to go further if reforms maintain momentum," Clinton said. "But history teaches us to be cautious. We know that there have been serious setbacks and grave disappointments over the past decades."
- Suu Kyi, whose party won 1990 elections that were ignored by the then-military junta but now plans to run in upcoming parliamentary elections, endorsed that approach and called for the immediate release of all political prisoners and cease-fires to end the ethnic conflicts.
Suu Kyi, a heroine for pro-democracy advocates around the world, said Clinton's visit represented "a historical moment for both our countries."Clinton said the two had discussed the "ups and downs and slings and arrows of political participation" at dinner and that Suu Kyi would be an "excellent member" of Myanmar's parliament but declined to discuss any electoral advice she may have given here.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI TAKEN FROM HER HOME TO MEET MYANMAR JUNTA OFFICIAL
YANGON, Myanmar — Detained Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken from her home Wednesday into unannounced talks with a junta official, the first in two months, officials said.
- Suu Kyi met for 45 minutes with Relations Minister Aung Kyi, who serves as a liaison between the military government and the 64-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
- Their last meeting was Oct. 7, after Suu Kyi sent the first of two letters to junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe saying she was willing to cooperate with the junta to have Western sanctions against Myanmar lifted.
- Details of Wednesday's talks were not immediately known. It was not clear if the meeting was related to a commentary published the same day in a state newspaper that accused Suu Kyi and her National League of Democracy party of trying to pressure the government by leaking the letters to the media before they reached Than Shwe.
- "She should have approached the government in an honest way in order to work out the stalemate," the commentary said. "Her letters suggest her dishonesty and are designed to tarnish the image of the ruling government."
- Commentaries in Myanmar's state-run media are seen as reflections of the junta's views.
- If Suu Kyi and her party "really want to work together with the government in the national interest, they can deliver letters directly to the head of state," the commentary said. "They sent letters by post, but the news about the letters had received media coverage, from the Internet down to radio stations, before the letters were received by the person concerned."
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
