INTERVIEW
‘We Must Try to Make Things Better’ By KYAW ZWA MOE / YANGON
A
former second vice-chairman of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions, U Aung Din was jailed from 1989 to 1993 for participating in the pro-democracy uprising in 1988. After traveling to the United States, he worked as executive director of the US Campaign for Burma between 2003 and 2012, and was involved with the Free Burma Coalition for two years. He talks to Kyaw Zwa Moe about reforms, the evolution of the United States’ foreign policy toward Myanmar and the prospects for free and fair elections. What is your view on changes to US foreign policy on Myanmar since the new government took power? Many years ago, the United States policy on Myanmar focused on the human rights situation. These days, the US takes three factors into consideration. Human rights is still important, alongside economics and geopolitics. The US would like to have a government that is friendly toward it in Myanmar, while it is trying to counterbalance the rise of China in the Asia-Pacific region. Considering these factors, they believe that their engagement policy is right. There may be unexpected difficulties and setbacks in pursuing this policy, but they will not reverse from it, they will only push ahead. At the same time, they are expecting a free and fair election in 2015. If the election is free and fair, the legislative landscape will be stronger in 2016. There will be larger democratic forces and ethnic forces in the parliament. The parliament will be stronger than it is in its current term— at least, I expect so. To make it happen, the US administration is taking steps to support the 2015 election.
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TheIrrawaddy
From Washington’s point of view, what kind of country is Myanmar? I recently talked with a senior figure in the US administration. He said they regard our country as a normal one. We have a government, opposition, government supporters and supporters of the opposition. There are conflicts, and sometimes violence and crackdowns, but these are quite normal in many countries. There are daily protests in his own country. [He said] they no longer regard our country as a failed state where there is conflict between the oppressed and the dictators; they regard our country as a normal state because things happening in our country are not unusual. [He said] the Myanmar government now understands that they can’t demonetize banknotes or use the army in dispersing demonstrations, and that the army can’t launch a coup, and if they do not break these rules, the international community has no reason to interfere in the country’s affairs. At the same time, many student protesters have been arrested recently, with the government reacting in the same manner as it did 20 years ago.
The international community, including the US and UN, opposed this brutal crackdown. But their declarations only used words like “regret” and “disappointment.” No statement used the words “condemn” or “denounce.” In declarations, the choice of words expresses severity. You mean that the international community has completely toned down its voice? They have changed the way they think. They will engage constructively with the government. They will tell the government secretly that it is doing wrong, but they will not publicly condemn it. What are the major achievements and failures of the reform process? There has been the creation of institutional mechanisms. The government is responsible to the parliament; the judicial system is responsible to the president and the parliament. These institutions are not perfect, but there is a framework. This is a very good thing. The military regime in the past was responsible to nobody. Political prisoners have been released and opposition forces including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi were able to join the political fold. There has been an emergence of civil society organizations. The government has admitted the need for internal peace and to fight poverty. The bad things are that there are opposing factions within the government and the Union Solidarity and Development Party, even as the top leaders wish for change. The president is not decisive. There are many bad guys in the cabinet. In fact, some of the cabinet members are tarnishing the president’s dignity and he can’t take decisive action against them. Racial and religious tensions are very high and they may break out into riots. The political atmosphere today is in accord with what was set out by
May 2015