latest interview with daw aung san

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Interview with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, July 15, 1998, Rangoon

Q: How do you describe the situation in the country at the moment?

ASSK: Well, it's a very interesting time for everybody, and it's also a
very crucial time. As you probably know, we have asked for a Parliament to
be convened before the 21st of August. Now we have waited very patiently
for eight years, and the people have waited patiently for eight years, for
their will to be implemented, so this is a time when we have got to see
what the government is going to do, how much goodwill they are going to
demonstrate towards the people, and towards the movement for democracy.
After all, they have always claimed that they want to democratize Burma.

Q: Do you think it is likely that the military regime will have dialogue
with the NLD soon?

ASSK: We've always said that they will have to have dialogue sooner or
later, and we've always hoped that it would be sooner rather than later! I
would have thought now was the best time, because prior to the convening of
Parliament it would be sensible for both sides to talk to each other. 

Q: Will the NLD convene Parliament with or without the military?

ASSK: This is not something that I can answer now, but what I can tell you
is this, that we consider it our responsibility to implement the will of
the people, and we will certainly not fail in carrying out our
responsibility. 

Q: What do you think is the position of the average Burmese in the country?

ASSK: Unhappy. The economic situation is very bad, as you well know, and
the education system is very bad, health care is poor, so what do we have
left? People are poor, their children are not getting properly educated,
their health is not looked after, the future seems very bleak, unless there
is change. So I would say that the average citizen in Burma is hoping for
change, not just hoping, but longing and praying for change!

Q: And how do you think that dialogue will help the average Burmese person?

ASSK: Our idea of dialogue is a way of finding a solution that would be
beneficial to the great majority of our people. I can't see a solution that
will be beneficial for everybody, because there is hardly ever a human
solution that can be applied to everybody, but dialogue would be the means
of finding a way forward, finding a way out of these problems under which
we have been drowning for so many years. 

Q: Do you think that the international community will help accelerate the
road to dialogue?

ASSK: We think that the international community can help if they have a
will to do so, because in this day and age, as no man is an island unto
himself, no country is an island unto itself, not even a country like Japan
or England, which are geographically islands. So the international
community certainly can do a lot to help accelerate the process of
dialogue, if they have the will to do so.

Q: There has been some concern among certain diplomats that NLD does not
have the transitional plan [and] that they can support?

ASSK: Well there are two reasons why we cannot talk about a transitional
plan. First of all you have to recognize the fact that we are a
much-harassed and persecuted party, and it is not in our interest to reveal
our plans, because usually that gets our people into trouble.

Also, there is another reason -- we do have a transitional plan, but we are
open to suggestions. It's a flexible plan. If it were a plan that were
inflexible, then we would not be calling for dialogue, and this is not what
we want. We have always said that we don't want a zero-sum solution.

We have our plan, of course, but we want to talk it over with the
authorities, after all, it is at present the SPDC which is in power, and
since we want to bring about change through non-violent means, that means
we want to bring about change through dialogue and negotiation, so our
plans, our hopes, our timetable as it were, is a flexible one, and it would
be subject to negotiation and discussion. If we were to present a plan as
"This is what we want" then where would be there room for negotiation?

Q: In a few days time, the ASEAN ministerial meeting will be held in
Manila, followed by the ASEAN Regional Forum which will be attended by
representatives of key countries throughout the world. How, what specific
steps should they be supporting, in regards to Burma?

ASSK: I think the first thing they can do is to support our call for the
convening of Parliament, and make a very, very firm case for dialogue
towards that process. It is the first step towards democratization. How can
we talk about democratization when the elections that took place eight
years ago have still not been honored? So we would very much like the ASEAN
countries to give full support to our call for the convening of Parliament,
in the full understanding that this call was not and is not a
confrontational move, but a positive step towards the democratization of
Burma. 

Q: Certain key players, including the military regime, and some investors,
are afraid of that, because they may lose their positions in a country in
which dialogue has taken place and parliament has been convened. What is
your response to that?

ASSK: We have said again and again that dialogue is not a debate in which
there will be winners and losers. A dialogue will be a process through
which we can come to a solution which will be beneficial to the great
majority of us, which would be of benefit to both sides, or to all
participants in the dialogue process. We are not out to punish anybody, we
are not out to crush or annihilate anybody, that is not our way, that is
not our policy. What we want to do is to bring about national
reconciliation, so that as few people as possible will lose out from the
process. In fact what we want to find is a solution that will be a win-win
one, a win-win solution for everybody concerned. 

Q: There has been concern that you might be threatened owing to recent
developments, for instance the attack in front of your house, being
surrounded in your car when you attempted to go out of Rangoon. What is the
situation with regard to your personal safety?

ASSK: Well, I'm as safe as anyone in Burma, which of course is not saying
much, if you are under a dictatorial regime, because when there is no rule
of law, nobody is really safe. So I can only say that I am as safe as
anybody can be in a country where there is no rule of law.

Q: Is it likely that the situation could become increasingly dangerous?

ASSK: For whom? For me?

Q: For you, and the NLD leadership?

ASSK: Well, I don't think we could be in more danger than we have been for
the last ten years.

Q: There has been concern about your personal safety, and that the NLD is
provoking a confrontation in the country, with the military. What is your
response to that?

ASSK: Well, we are not provoking any sort of confrontation. We are only
asking for what is the due, not of the NLD, but of the people of Burma.

To ask for the convening of Parliament is tantamount to asking for the
recognition of the will of the people as expressed through the elections of
1990. So we are only asking for what is due to the people of Burma. That
should not be looked upon as a provocation or a confrontation, particularly
in view of the fact that we have waited patiently for eight years. Eight
years is a long time to wait for somebody to keep his promise, so I do not
think we are provoking anybody. [If] they are afraid of anything, if
anybody is nervous that the convening of Parliament will lead to
instability within the country they only have to talk to us about it, so
that we can come to a mutual understanding, whereby there will not take
place anything that will upset the stability of the country.

Q: What will the NLD be prepared to do in the next few weeks?

ASSK: I can hardly give you a blow by blow detailed account of what our
intentions are, but I can only say that we are prepared to do everything
that we need to do in order to serve the people, and in order to keep our
promise to the people that we will work for democracy.

END

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