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THE NATION: The people made their
- Subject: THE NATION: The people made their
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 08 Apr 1998 03:56:00
Mailbag
The people made their
choice -- it was Suu Kyi
In response to Pat James' piece ''Junta is
leading Burma in the right direction'' (The
Nation, April 5, 1998):
Forgive me if I place more trust in the
opinions of Burma's elected leaders than in
a businessman from Texas, but I simply
cannot agree with Pat James' rosy picture
of Burma's military government.
James claims that ''Asian-style'' capitalism
is what Burma needs, forgetting that
Burma's (Asian) people already chose
''Western-style'' democracy as their
preferred form of government.
He says that the military made the right
choice in 1990 -- presumably referring to
their denial of the results of popular
elections -- but fails to explain why a
transition to democracy in 1990 wouldn't
have brought far more investment and
progress than the current corrupt junta.
Perhaps Burma offers ''a safe place to
raise a family,'' but only as long as you do
what the military says, don't admit that you
care about democracy or human rights, and
don't threaten to stop Burma's lifeblood of
foreign investment.
Burma's ''quiet and peaceful lifestyle'' may
be available to many businessmen such as
James, but to precious few Burmese.
Most insulting are his claims that public
opinion is shaped by ''political exiles''
alongside a misleading attack on the
leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi.
James appears to have forgotten that Aung
San Suu Kyi is not a political exile, that she
is indeed the leader of the only
popularly-elected party in Burma, and that
she has a duty to advocate on behalf of her
people.
''Political exiles'' became exiles when they
fled Burma in 1988 amid the bloodbath of
10,000 murdered democracy activists.
Should their loyalties lie more with the
killers of their friends than with the elected
leaders of Burma?
The basic point, however, is that regardless
of Suu Kyi's motives, regardless of whether
James thinks she is a proper leader (he
says she is not), the Burmese people have
chosen her party to lead them.
And she would be irresponsible to do
otherwise.
Marco Simons
Free Burma Coalition/New England Burma
Roundtable
Harvard University