BKK POST: Rangoon doing the right t

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

 Rangoon doing the right thing? 
The great Slorc shake-up of '97 may have put a new face on things, but hardcore change is still a long way off
Rangoon, AFP


A much vaunted shake-up in Burma's military junta four months ago heralded a major shift in the regime's focus, but its crackdown on pro-democracy groups shows no signs of easing, analysts say.

November's dissolution of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) was a key move which concentrated political power, purged top-level corruption and launched a new drive to tackle the country's economic woes.

The nine-year-old Slorc was replaced with a more streamlined and younger State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which has set out economic development as its primacy task, officials said.

'We are now in the second stage of the government's plan for the country,' a senior government official said.

"But we'll still maintain stability and law and order, While giving priority to economic development.

But while a sea change has taken place in government economic thinking, the official's comments indicate there will be no let-up in repression against opponents of the regime.

"It really was a major change, which was probably long in the making," a  foreign analyst said, dispelling reports that the change was,simply cosmetic and aimed at easing world criticism of the junta's rights record.

Four senior generals were put under virtual house arrest on charges of corruption following the Slorc's demise, while several senior ministry figures under them are now also' being investigated.

The lightning strike served to rid the regime of 'incompetent and corrupt figures who had lingered for too long', while refining the junta's power in a few men at the top, analysts said.

'The four core members of the junta - chairman Senior General Than Shwe, powerful first secretary ]Khin Nyunt, second secretary Tin Oo and vice chairman General Maung Aye have been left sharing ultimate power.

Only the five top SPDC chiefs live in the capital, while other members are regional commanders living in the countryside, and only come to Rangoon when summoned by the supreme leaders.

The move has made the cumbersome process of making decisions by consensus more streamlined, allowing better economic management.  It has also entrenched the future of the leaders, analysts said.

Government officials conceded the junta was in need of "housecleaning" and young blood to replace the old soldiers to revive the flagging economy.

They warned that the graft probe could be broadened if further wrongdoing was uncovered, while the guilty would be "punished accordingly".

One cadre said the new economic phase of Burma's development was a further move towards democracy, stressing that the military junta still regarded itself as a temporary institution until polls can be called.

He rejected criticism of Burma's human rights record, saying the people's 'basic human rights'were assured.  He also warned of the danger of popular unrest if any government failed to ensure the most basic right - food.

But the shift will not mean a relaxation of policy towards the opposition of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), ethnic insurgency groups or other opponents of the government.

"The repression continues and there are no signs of relaxation towards the opposition," an analyst said.."The shake-up shows that some leader intend to stay in power for a long while and will do whatever 's needed to ensure that.

A senior NLD figure says his leader's movements are still essentially restricted by the junta, while NLD supporters are being sentenced to long jail terms. ,

But, a foreign observer said that, while there were currently no signs of political flexibility among government leaders who 'lack confidence in their position", there was hope for change over the long term.

"I'm quietly confident that in time, the two sides will begin talking and that slowly, the repression will ease, but 1 don't think this will even begin for the next year or  so."

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