Wednesday, 16 May 2012 12:38 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi told a U.S. audience on Tuesday that she supported U.S. Sen. John McCain’s proposal that the U.S. should suspend all economic sanctions other than an arms embargo, following the move of Europe.
“I am not against the suspension of sanctions as long as the people of the United States think this is the right thing to do at the moment,” she said, according to The Associated Press. Suu Kyi spoke to the audience via a video conference.
Burma has embarked on a crash course in liberalization of the economic system, trade barriers and the media. It has opened up the space for a democratic opposition to operate with more freedom from censorship. Many Burmese who fled the country during its decades of brutal suppression are returning to work to build a democracy, still in its opening stages.
There are many issues yet to be solved, including national reconciliation after years of ethnic civil wars and political repression. “There should be no political prisoners in Burma if we are really headed to democratization,” Suu Kyi told the audience members. In spite of recent presidential amnesties, there are still hundreds of prisoners of conscience in jails.
She acknowledged that the military, with its guaranteed bloc of 25 percent of the seats in Parliament, could effectively block any amendment to the Constitution, as that requires a 75 per cent majority vote.
Suu Kyi gave a similar endorsement to the EU move. However, she said that Burma would be on the path of true democracy only when the military committed itself to democracy. Suu Kyi has said that she wants to try to amend the Constitution, but the political opposition in Parliament numbers less than 20 percent of the overall body.
On Monday, McCain, who has traveled twice to Burma during the past year, acknowledged said President Thein Sein and his allies “are sincere about reform, and they are making real progress.”
In remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, he said the U.S. should still maintain a blacklist on trade with selected companies and individuals in Burma and ban U.S. companies from doing business with military-dominated firms.
“The right investment would strengthen Burma's private sector, benefit its citizens and ultimately loosen the military's control over the economy and the civilian government,” he said.
On May 4, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, who has long supported engagement with Burma, called for the removal of most U.S. sanctions.
“At this critical moment, it is imperative that our policy toward Burma be forward thinking, providing incentives for further reforms and building the capacity of reformers in the government to push for additional change,” Sen. Webb said.
The U.S. policy has been to reward Burma for its moves toward democracy on a “step by step” basis. State Department officials have indicated they are moving cautiously.
The Obama administration last month announced a targeted easing of a ban on U.S. investment, but hasn’t provided details, and still retains trade sanctions. Many countries in Europe are interested in reaping the rewards of doing business in Burma, which has been called a potential “last economic frontier” in Asia. Burma has undertaken a series of reforms designed to bring its financial system up to international standards, but it still lacks significant infrastructure, which, for now, is making investment problematic. However, the tourism industry is set to boom as people rush to catch a glimpse of a country long isolated from the rest of the world.
(Mizzima) – Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi told a U.S. audience on Tuesday that she supported U.S. Sen. John McCain’s proposal that the U.S. should suspend all economic sanctions other than an arms embargo, following the move of Europe.
“I am not against the suspension of sanctions as long as the people of the United States think this is the right thing to do at the moment,” she said, according to The Associated Press. Suu Kyi spoke to the audience via a video conference.
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| Sen. John McCain speaks during press conference at the American Center in Rangoon on Sunday, January 22, 2012. Photo: Mizzima |
Burma has embarked on a crash course in liberalization of the economic system, trade barriers and the media. It has opened up the space for a democratic opposition to operate with more freedom from censorship. Many Burmese who fled the country during its decades of brutal suppression are returning to work to build a democracy, still in its opening stages.
There are many issues yet to be solved, including national reconciliation after years of ethnic civil wars and political repression. “There should be no political prisoners in Burma if we are really headed to democratization,” Suu Kyi told the audience members. In spite of recent presidential amnesties, there are still hundreds of prisoners of conscience in jails.
She acknowledged that the military, with its guaranteed bloc of 25 percent of the seats in Parliament, could effectively block any amendment to the Constitution, as that requires a 75 per cent majority vote.
Suu Kyi gave a similar endorsement to the EU move. However, she said that Burma would be on the path of true democracy only when the military committed itself to democracy. Suu Kyi has said that she wants to try to amend the Constitution, but the political opposition in Parliament numbers less than 20 percent of the overall body.
On Monday, McCain, who has traveled twice to Burma during the past year, acknowledged said President Thein Sein and his allies “are sincere about reform, and they are making real progress.”
In remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, he said the U.S. should still maintain a blacklist on trade with selected companies and individuals in Burma and ban U.S. companies from doing business with military-dominated firms.
“The right investment would strengthen Burma's private sector, benefit its citizens and ultimately loosen the military's control over the economy and the civilian government,” he said.
On May 4, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, who has long supported engagement with Burma, called for the removal of most U.S. sanctions.
“At this critical moment, it is imperative that our policy toward Burma be forward thinking, providing incentives for further reforms and building the capacity of reformers in the government to push for additional change,” Sen. Webb said.
The U.S. policy has been to reward Burma for its moves toward democracy on a “step by step” basis. State Department officials have indicated they are moving cautiously.
The Obama administration last month announced a targeted easing of a ban on U.S. investment, but hasn’t provided details, and still retains trade sanctions. Many countries in Europe are interested in reaping the rewards of doing business in Burma, which has been called a potential “last economic frontier” in Asia. Burma has undertaken a series of reforms designed to bring its financial system up to international standards, but it still lacks significant infrastructure, which, for now, is making investment problematic. However, the tourism industry is set to boom as people rush to catch a glimpse of a country long isolated from the rest of the world.
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