Suu Kyi questions ASEAN's policy

Suu Kyi questions ASEAN's policy

BANGKOK (Reuter): Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
questioned the effectiveness of Southeast Asia's "constructive
engagement" policy toward Myanmar, and called on neighboring
countries to help promote democracy in Myanmar, The Nation
newspaper reported yesterday.

"I do notice that while promoting the policy of constructive
engagement some ASEAN nations are careful to say that they do not
interfere in the internal affairs of another country," Suu Kyi
told The Nation in an interview.

"If they do not interfere in the internal affairs of another
country then how far can they help us achieve change?"

The constructive engagement policy Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) toward Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) differs sharply from western
countries' outspoken criticism of the Yangon government and human
rights abuses in Burma since 1988.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, which became a member last week.
Several members have said Suu Kyi's release was proof the policy
was right.

But Suu Kyi, the 50-year-old Nobel Peace laureate who was
released from six years of house arrest earlier this month, said
there was no evidence to prove ASEAN policy had worked.

"The question is for whom has it been constructive? Was it
constructive for the forces of democracy? Was it constructive for
the Burmese (Myanmarese) people in general? Was it constructive
for a limited business community? Or was it constructive for the
SLORC?" Suu Kyi asked.

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw, currently attending ASEAN
meetings in Brunei as a guest, took the first steps on the road
to ASEAN membership last week by acceding to the organization's
founding treaty.

Suu Kyi said if ASEAN nations cared about regional peace and
stability they should care about the kind of governments their
neighbors had.

She repeated appeals to governments and investors not to rush
into Myanmar with new funds, but instead to encourage a climate
of dialog and negotiation.