Suu Kyi's silence moves masses

Aung San Suu Kyi's traditional new year or transition address on Sunday was heard by few Burmese.

Her quiet words about reconciliation are anathema to the official media, and few among the independent press in Burma are willing to risk antagonizing the country's leadership by giving them a forum.

But while the military government has been successful in muting her, Suu Kyi's silent presence nevertheless remains a potent force inside Burma.

Eight years after the democracy movement stirred in Burma, the political standoff remains. Burma continues to be a dispirited, divided country, and there is little to suggest there will be any dramatic changes in the near future.

There has been mounting disquiet outside Burma about Suu Kyi's inability to force concessions from the junta, or even break the shackles that have been placed on her own movements.

When she tries to board trains they break down, when she attempts to fly the planes are delayed, her car trips into the countryside are blocked for various reasons.

All the time Burma's economy continues to grow and the military government appears to becoming more entrenched in power.

But such thinking ignores the paradox that Suu Kyi's weakness is also the military's weakness.

If one house-bound woman leading a disorganized, essentially broken political movement can still inspire such anxiety among Burma's military leaders, it suggests that their hold on power is anything but secure.

In a land of enemies, both imagined and real, The State Law and Order Restoration Council continues to shun the one person who could bring them the respectability and security they so crave. That person is of course Suu Kyi.

Reconciliation and cooperation are the only way forward for Burma. But at Sunday's Thingyan celebration even NLD aides agreed there would be no transition any time soon.

-- The Nation, Bangkok