Mizzima: An Asian Fear

[mizzima@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

--------------08EB13D1A2D93E0859DC6DEC
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

An Asian Fear
A Burmese Perspective

By: Kanbawza Win
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)
December 12, 2000

After the historians have counted the votes, will Jan.20th, 2001 goes
down in history as the date when America, the only super power, swore in
the wrong candidate as President of the United States? The repercussions
and the ramifications of the US presidency decision are just some of the
Asian anxieties. Whoever becomes President one thing is sure, he will be
a weak president and will not be in a position to take risks or make
bold steps.

Hints of voting irregularities and missing ballots, recriminations,
court battles and the threat of a paralyzing political crisis, all of
which are familiar in Asia?s nascent and frail democracies, are now
happening in America which has been called "The Arsenal of Democracy."
It makes one wonder whether the United States has gone down to the level
of a "Banana Republic". It is not much comfort to claim that Americans
have not resorted to shooting and bloodshed as other semi democracies
have done. What we are emphasizing is not that democracy is discredited
but that the American political system has been discredited. We wonder
whether the Americans should re-examine the entire system itself.

Of course, this is not the first time that confused results have
occurred. Such moments were faced, first in 1876, then in 1888 and again
in 1960 in the race between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon. If a
lesson can be drawn from the 1960 election is that at that time there
was a considerable evidence that the voting had been manipulated by
Kennedy allies in two key states. If a recount had been conducted in
those states, who can say whether or not Nixon might have won. But he
didn?t dispute the results and conceded defeat.

Later, after nearly two decades, in his memoirs, Nixon noted that aside
from not wanting to be labeled as a sore loser, his main reason for not
contesting the results was based on foreign policy. A recount would have
not only tarnished the image of Kennedy but would also have been
devastating to America?s foreign relations.

Obviously Nixon felt he could not subject the whole of America to such a
situation. But what we are afraid of now is that such a moment has
arrived. The refusal of both men to concede defeat clearly paints the
picture that they cannot sacrifice their egoism at the altar of national
and international interest.

Politics is more than about egotism. People believe deeply in their
political philosophies being the best course for the nation. However,
loyalty to democratic process must prevail. So long as there is
uncertainty about the voting and counting process, Gore?s camp feel it
is justified in delaying concession, complicating that is the
improperbalities of 100 million voters and the electoral college,
splitting so nearly equal. That aspect appears to be unprecedented.

Regardless of who becomes President, doubt will remain with half of the
population doubting the outcome?s legitimacy. Gone are the days when the
American rallied behind the President whether they voted for him or not.

The classic example is President Clinton. In spite of his weakness with
women he
managed to rally the support of the American people and in many
important issues such as normal and permanent trade relations with China
where he managed to get bipartisan support. We doubt whether the next
President can ever achieve a result like this after the Florida fiasco.
Further more the new President could have an even more difficult time
working with Congress. If Gore takes office, the Republicans would set
out to punish him for stealing their Presidency which they would view as
rightfully theirs. Any dealing for bi partisan support will be out of
the question. On the other hand, if Bush come to power, it will be clear
that the majority of the people did not chose him. Besides, his team
mate has business interest with the dictatorial countries like Burma, a
clear indication that business warriors have hijacked the human rights
agenda, so dear to the Americans.

People who abhor democracy and human rights and resent the lead of
America will gloat over this affair. Dictators throughout the world will
be smiling at this unfortunate episode and we are sure if the party was
thrown where the Burmese Generals, Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic
attended they would not only be dancing with joy but will be hilarious
and boisterous shouting at the top of their voices.

To us it seems that something like a big nation with a contented image
of itself has started to crack. Their recitation of "One nation under
God indivisible" has become hollow. One dares not contemplate the
disastrous effects of the post election period. We are afraid that
Abraham Lincoln?s biblical acknowledgment "A house divided against
itself cannot stand" may be coming true.

(The author, a former Foreign Affairs Secretary to the Prime Minister of
the Union of Burma is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Faculty
of International Development Studies, University of Winnipeg, Canada.)



--------------08EB13D1A2D93E0859DC6DEC
Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
<b><font size=+2>An Asian Fear</font></b>
<br><b>A Burmese Perspective</b>
<p>By:<b> Kanbawza Win</b>
<br>Mizzima News Group<b> <a href="http://www.mizzima.com";>(www.mizzima.com)</a></b>
<br>December 12, 2000
<p>After the historians have counted the votes, will Jan.20th, 2001 goes
down in history as the date when America, the only super power, swore in
the wrong candidate as President of the United States? The repercussions
and the ramifications of the US presidency decision are just some of the
Asian anxieties. Whoever becomes President one thing is sure, he will be
a weak president and will not be in a position to take risks or make bold
steps.
<p>Hints of voting irregularities and missing ballots, recriminations,
court battles and the threat of a paralyzing political crisis, all of which
are familiar in Asia?s nascent and frail democracies, are now happening
in America which has been called "The Arsenal of Democracy." It makes one
wonder whether the United States has gone down to the level of a "Banana
Republic". It is not much comfort to claim that Americans have not resorted
to shooting and bloodshed as other semi democracies have done. What we
are emphasizing is not that democracy is discredited but that the American
political system has been discredited. We wonder whether the Americans
should re-examine the entire system itself.
<p>Of course, this is not the first time that confused results have occurred.
Such moments were faced, first in 1876, then in 1888 and again in 1960
in the race between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon. If a lesson can be
drawn from the 1960 election is that at that time there was a considerable
evidence that the voting had been manipulated by Kennedy allies in two
key states. If a recount had been conducted in those states, who can say
whether or not Nixon might have won. But he didn?t dispute the results
and conceded defeat.
<p>Later, after nearly two decades, in his memoirs, Nixon noted that aside
from not wanting to be labeled as a sore loser, his main reason for not
contesting the results was based on foreign policy. A recount would have
not only tarnished the image of Kennedy but would also have been devastating
to America?s foreign relations.
<p>Obviously Nixon felt he could not subject the whole of America to such
a situation. But what we are afraid of now is that such a moment has arrived.
The refusal of both men to concede defeat clearly paints the picture that
they cannot sacrifice their egoism at the altar of national and international
interest.
<p>Politics is more than about egotism. People believe deeply in their
political philosophies being the best course for the nation. However, loyalty
to democratic process must prevail. So long as there is uncertainty about
the voting and counting process, Gore?s camp feel it is justified in delaying
concession, complicating that is the improperbalities of 100 million voters
and the electoral college, splitting so nearly equal. That aspect appears
to be unprecedented.
<p>Regardless of who becomes President, doubt will remain with half of
the population doubting the outcome?s legitimacy. Gone are the days when
the American rallied behind the President whether they voted for him or
not.
<p>The classic example is President Clinton. In spite of his weakness with
women he
<br>managed to rally the support of the American people and in many important
issues such as normal and permanent trade relations with China where he
managed to get bipartisan support. We doubt whether the next President
can ever achieve a result like this after the Florida fiasco. Further more
the new President could have an even more difficult time working with Congress.
If Gore takes office, the Republicans would set out to punish him for stealing
their Presidency which they would view as rightfully theirs. Any dealing
for bi partisan support will be out of the question. On the other hand,
if Bush come to power, it will be clear that the majority of the people
did not chose him. Besides, his team mate has business interest with the
dictatorial countries like Burma, a clear indication that business warriors
have hijacked the human rights agenda, so dear to the Americans.
<p>People who abhor democracy and human rights and resent the lead of America
will gloat over this affair. Dictators throughout the world will be smiling
at this unfortunate episode and we are sure if the party was thrown where
the Burmese Generals, Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic attended they
would not only be dancing with joy but will be hilarious and boisterous
shouting at the top of their voices.
<p>To us it seems that something like a big nation with a contented image
of itself has started to crack. Their recitation of "One nation under God
indivisible" has become hollow. One dares not contemplate the disastrous
effects of the post election period. We are afraid that Abraham Lincoln?s
biblical acknowledgment "A house divided against itself cannot stand" may
be coming true.
<p><b><i>(The author, a former Foreign Affairs Secretary to the Prime Minister
of the Union of Burma is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Faculty
of International Development Studies, University of Winnipeg, Canada.)</i></b>
<p>&nbsp;</html>

--------------08EB13D1A2D93E0859DC6DEC--