A look at the political map of the world would reveal that there are not many countries of the world today that have escaped the pressures by the global community to yield to democratic reforms.
Latin America in particular has seen quite a number of dictatorships crumbled under the weight of democratic reforms. The same is true of a number of African countries even though there are still a few that continue to defy the views of their electorate and those of the international community. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was forced to agree to a power sharing arrangement with his political rival after clinging on to political power for over two decades.
Our own country Guyana finally cast the yoke of a pariah state on October 1992 when democratic elections swept the PPP/C into power after some twenty-eight years of undemocratic rule perpetuated by the then People’s National Congress.
Despite the significant progress made in the area of democratization and political modernization, there are still a handful of countries that continue to hold on to power by undemocratic means and practice all forms of oppression against their own people who sought to introduce democratic reforms. One such country is Myanmar, formerly Burma where the military junta exercised total control over the civilian population by virtue of its control over the instruments of power, more particularly that of the coercive apparatus.
Anyone who dared to challenge the junta is met with the full force of military power. No one is spared the wrath of the junta including men in robes as happened not so long ago when the military opened fire on protesting monks, killing a number of them in the process.
Despite the mood of repression, there is one person who stood out as a ray of hope for democratic reforms in that country. She is Aung San Suu Kwi who is being detained by the military for over two decades.
As leader of her party which won democratic elections but was denied the opportunity to form a government by the military, she fearlessly defied the odds and remained steadfast in her desire to see a democratic Burma, even at the risk of her own life and well-being.
From all indications, the days of the military junta are numbered. Only recently, a top US official held talks with her as part of the United States attempt to persuade the junta to release her from captivity and restore the country to democratic rule.
US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with her for more than two hours at a hotel not far away from her home in where she had been detained for much of the past two decades. The junta continues to fabricate reasons for keeping her in confinement including the spurious charge of her entertaining an unauthorized foreigner who allegedly swam to her home where she is currently kept under house arrest. Predictably, the courts upheld the charges and in the process prolonging her detention.
Be that as it may, the decision to allow a leading White House official to meet with her is a significant development and demonstrated a new diplomatic approach on the part of the Obama administration to use diplomatic measures to secure her release and promote democratic reforms in the country.
The visit by the top US diplomat was seen as exploratory aimed at briefing White House officials on the issue of a policy review towards that country. The United States had for quite some time expressed strong support for human rights, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners and the pursuit of democratic reform.
The military junta for its part is showing some inclination in the direction of pursuing talks on the issue of democratic reforms. The fact that a top US delegation was allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi is in itself significant not to mention that the junta itself agreed to engage the team on discussions in the area of democratic reforms. Burma, it should be noted, has been adversely affected by sanctions imposed by western powers due to the suppression of democracy and human rights in the country.
The situation in Myanmar is not dissimilar with what obtained in Guyana during the period of authoritarian rule when the country was virtually isolated by the international community and treated as a pariah state. Loans and grants by the international community were withheld due to undemocratic practices and weak and corrupt governance. The country was declared “ineligible” and “untrustworthy” by the International Monetary Fund because of its failure to honour its debt obligations to the Fund and other lending agencies.
Like Auun San Suu Kwi, the late Leader of the PPP Dr. Cheddi Jagan was treated with gross disrespect and hostility by the former regime but they both remained defiant and optimistic that time was on their side and that that victory was inevitable. After nearly three decades in the political wilderness, victory to Guyana finally came on October 5, 1992 when the PPP swept the polls to become the first democratically elected government in post-independent Guyana.
There are not many who knew that Dr. Cheddi Jagan and Aung San Suu Kwi actually exchanged correspondence with each other when she sent Dr. Jagan a personal note expressing solidarity with him and the people of Guyana in the struggle for a democratic and free Guyana.
The winds of change are blowing in favour of democracy and respect for human rights. Like Guyana, the people of Myanmar will one day breathe the fresh air of freedom and democracy.
The international community needed to speak with one voice on the issue and make it abundantly clear to the military junta that it cannot be business as usual until Aung San Suu Kwi is free and democracy is returned to that country.
