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Asiaweek
May 3, 1996

MYANMAR
 We Know What We
Want'

Democracy Activist Suu
Kyi argues for a boycott

Myanmar's ruling State
Law and Order
Restoration Council
(SLORC) has a hard
time relating to its most
vocal critic, Nobel
Peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi. Since
releasing her from
nearly six years of
house arrest last July,
the junta has refused to
engage in a dialogue
with her. Earlier this
year, it ousted her party,
the National League for
Democracy (NLD),
from the group drafting
a new constitution. The
NLD had won a
landslide victory in
1990 national elections,
but the military refused
to recognize the results.
Nevertheless, Suu Kyi
remains a powerful
political force. She
continues to address
crowds outside her
compound on weekends,
and videotapes of these
addresses circulate
clandestinely
throughout the country.
Bangkok - based
Contributing Reporter
Dominic Faulder talked
with her by telephone on
April 17 about her
standoff with SLORC.
Excerpts: 

    Are you getting out to
talk with people? 
Well, I do go out of the
house, if that's what you
mean, but you must
have heard about the
contretemps yesterday.
The ordinary Burmese
are very supportive,
which is exactly why the
SLORC does not want
us to be in contact with
the people. 

    Can you describe
what happened
yesterday during
Thingyan [Buddhist
New Year]? 
The NLD was planning
to have a fish - releasing
ceremony. This is what
we usually do on New
Year's Day; we release
fish as a way of
gathering merit for the
New Year. The NLD
informed the authorities
concerned just before
Thingyan that we would
be having a ceremony,
and that we would be
walking from my house
to the place where the
fishes were to be
released. They informed
us only on the 15th that
this was not going to be
permitted. So we
thought in that case, we
would go ahead with
our arrangement to pay
respects to our elders.
This would be held in
[my] house. But
yesterday they started
putting barriers across
the road in front of the
house and stopping
people from coming in.

    Why do you think the
government did that? 
I see it as a sign that
SLORC is very much
aware that our public
support is very strong,
and I think they are
afraid that this support
will be demonstrated
clearly for all the world
to see. So they wanted
to stop us from doing
anything that would
give the people a chance
to show how much they
supported us. Of course,
their excuse was that
they wanted to prevent
unrest. But I do not for
a moment believe there
would have been any
unrest of any kind.
There would have been
a great demonstration of
public support for the
NLD, and of course the
thought of that really
frightens them. 

     Some people say that
economic development
will in time bring the
sort of democratization
you want to see. What
do you think? 
Burma is not developing
in any way. It is not
developing
economically. Some
people are getting very
rich. That does not
constitute economic
development. Certainly
there has been no
progress towards
democratization, so
what is the progress? I
think the human rights
record of SLORC is so
bad -- and it's getting
worse -- that even those
who might have wished
to have better relations
with SLORC for purely
economic reasons find
themselves unable to do
so. Those who invest in
Burma or do business
with Burma at the
moment will find that
they are not going to
make the profits that
they hoped for. I don't
think anyone doing
business with SLORC is
interested in exerting
moral leverage, anyway.
No business that wishes
to exert moral leverage
would be engaged in
Burma under the present
circumstances. 

     Visit Myanmar Year
is coming up. Some
argue the country might
benefit from more
exposure, so that people
would be less isolated
and have a better
understanding of what is
going on. Do you
support that? 
No. I think the Burmese
people have a perfectly
good idea of what is
going on, otherwise they
would not have voted
for democracy in 1990.
There is nothing the
Burmese people need to
be taught about
democracy, as some
people claim. I think it
is just an excuse for
engaging in Burma. We
understand well enough
what democracy means
and we know what we
want. 

     So would you
support a boycott, and
ask people not to visit? 
Certainly I would. 

     What is the state of
the National League for
Democracy at the
moment? If
circumstances were
different, would it be
able to rule? 
Why not? The NLD
was successful in the
1990 elections. I think
you will find that there
are some very, very
capable people there,
with a lot of experience
both in administration
and in the professional
world. Of course  there
is a lot of learning to be
done, and we are ready
to learn. And because
we are ready to learn,
we will be able to cope
with whatever problems
we have to face. I am
not saying that we will
be able to overcome or
resolve problems easily,
but we are prepared to
face difficulties. 

     The NLD has been
criticized for not having
a coherent economic
strategy.  
I think those who use
that argument are the
ones already engaged in
business in Burma, and
they want to use this as
an excuse for not
supporting the
democratic cause. The
economic program that
the SLORC is trying to
follow is that which was
laid out by the NLD in
1988, without the
framework that we
foresaw for such a
program. 

     Looking back over
the last eight years, is
there anything that is
taking the country in a
better direction and
encourages you? 
The election was a good
thing. It was free and
fair. It was a pity they
did not  honor the result.
That's the only thing. 





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