ASEAN urged to unite against Yangon<\/p>\n
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The road to democracy may be a fraught one, but for Myanmar's
\npro-democracy activists, it is better to light a candle than to
\ncurse the darkness.<\/p>\n
In the past 15 years, Myanmar's pro-democracy movement has
\nbeen preparing for the time when the military finally decides to
\ncall it a day, including the sharing of power between more than
\n100 ethnic groups, the form of government and the constitution,
\nwhich is more or less based on the Western concept of a
\ndemocracy, said Myanmarese activists Daw San San and Khin Ohmar.<\/p>\n
The latest move came on Feb. 12, 2005, when 41 organizations
\nrepresenting major ethnic groups signed an agreement on the
\nprinciples that would provide the foundations for the new
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
\"Within our democratic movement, the ethnic leaders, the
\nyouths and women were able to come together, and helped shape the
\nvision of a future Burma. We agreed to form a coalition called
\nthe democratic federal union of Burma.<\/p>\n
\"Only recently, we came up with eight principles for the
\nfuture constitution,\" Ohmar said without elaborating.<\/p>\n
She added that this year's agreement was based on a number of
\nprevious agreements. The first formal agreement was signed in
\n1996. \"These are all on how we will shape the federal union, how
\nwe're going to share the resources and how we're going to share
\nthe power.\"<\/p>\n
\"It's not true that without the Army, the Union of Burma will
\ncollapse. There has never been any ethnic conflict at the
\ncommunity level. The ethnic groups are resentful of the system
\nand the Army's human rights violations,\" said Ohmar.<\/p>\n
She admitted that the military government had entered an
\nagreement with 17 armed groups recently, but said that this was
\nmerely an effort to shut them up and remove them from the
\npolitical equation.<\/p>\n
San San, 73, is the secretary of Aung San Suu Kyi's Members of
\nParliament Union (MPU). In July 2003, she left Myanmar for fear
\nof being arrested. She is now based in Mae Sot, Thailand.<\/p>\n
Ohmar is the coordinator of the Peacebuilding and
\nReconciliation Program of the Women's League of Burma (WLB) and
\nPolicy Forum member of the Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB),
\nalso based in Thailand.<\/p>\n
The two were testifying before the House of Representatives'
\nCommission I on Tuesday evening. Though they were the first
\nforeigners to testify before the House, they elicited little
\nattention as only three out of the 46 commission members attended
\nthe meeting.<\/p>\n
\"We felt very encouraged (by the Indonesia's legislators
\nattention) ... They are elected representatives, I'm sure the
\ngovernment will pay serious attention to the legislators,\"
\nOhmar said.<\/p>\n
Some legislators from Indonesia are members of the ASEAN
\nInter-Parliamentary Caucus for Burma. The Caucus is a loose
\ngrouping of legislators from Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, the
\nPhilippines, Singapore and Thailand. The activists are due to
\nvisit other caucus members in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as
\npart of their campaign to raise awareness among Southeast Asian
\nlegislators and people to help put pressure on the Myanmar
\ngovernment to give democracy a chance.<\/p>\n
The Myanmar government outlined a \"road map\" to democracy in
\nAugust 2003 in response to international condemnation of the
\ndetention of Suu Kyi and the lack of democratic reform by the
\nisolated regime.<\/p>\n
San San and Ohmar said they wished that ASEAN government would
\nreach a consensus on Myanmar's chairmanship of ASEAN in 2006.
\n\"There is no visible reform in Burma,\" San San said.<\/p>\n
\"The key is ASEAN,\" Ohmar added. \"ASEAN wants to see a gradual
\nchange, but the problem with Burma is they constantly buy time
\nfrom neighbors and the international community. So as to make
\nsure they can really hold on to power.\"<\/p>\n
\"Myanmar is not a civil society and the people have little or
\nno opportunities for economic development. Without intervention,
\nhow Burma move toward change, albeit gradually?\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asean-urged-to-unite-against-yangon-1447893297",
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