Myanmar's prolonged crisis

The UN special envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, is expected to arrive in Yangon today to assess the latest developments there, despite the Myanmar military government's strong reluctance to allow the veteran Malaysian diplomat to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The international community has strong hopes that Ismail can personally meet with Suu Kyi and get first-hand information about her condition. According to international media reports, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate was seriously injured when her supporters clashed with progovernment people in Monyiwa, 600 kilometers north of Yangon.

Now she is under arrest, although the government has described her detention merely as "protective custody". We do hope that the military government will allow Ismail to meet with her to prove that it is being honest in its statement that she is healthy. The government's failure to allow the meeting would only further isolate the poor country from the world community.

It would be very shameful if reports about her injury are correct, whatever the cause may have been. It is very difficult to believe that such a prominent figure could be hurt by government supporters.

For 13 years, Suu Kyi has been fighting to recover the power that was entrusted to her by a majority of the Myanmarese people. In May 1990, her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won two-thirds of the vote. The general election, organized by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), was hailed as a clean election by international observers. But contrary to their promise, the military rulers still refuse to hand over power to Suu Kyi, providing thousands of pretexts to justify their stance.

With Myanmar's admission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997, there was some hope that regional leaders could encourage the military junta in Yangon to hand over power to Suu Kyi in a peaceful manner. Sticking to its noninterference and constructive engagement principles, however, the group took take a passive stance over the problem.

With the emergence of younger leaders in ASEAN countries, such as Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Indonesia's Megawati Soekarnoputri, however, there is a growing view among these leaders, especially Arroyo and Thaksin, that ASEAN can no longer stubbornly hold on to its old creed. Indonesia and Malaysia, however, remain firmly committed to the outdated doctrine.

We appeal to the Myanmar government to guarantee the safety of Suu Kyi and the other leaders of the opposition movement. The government should remember that the 1990 elections were fully controlled by the government. The people of Myanmar have suffered for far too long from isolation and poverty.

On the other hand, we feel obliged also to call on Suu Kyi to be more realistic by showing a greater readiness to reach a political compromise with the incumbent government.

A confrontational approach will only backfire, for both sides, and the people will be the ones to suffer most.

In the meantime, the success of Ismail's mission to Myanmar can be hoped to at least reduce the tension in that country. Again, we hope that he will be successful in his mission.