Time for the World to stand up for Democracy

Posted on May 9, 2008
Filed Under Burma news |

de·moc·ra·cy [di-mok-ruh-see]

1 Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

2. A state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.

3. A state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.

4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.

5.The common people of a community as distinguished from any privileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

Democracy; The idea of government by the people for the people, or as it is more commonly practised, majority rule has been around since ancient Mesopotamia. Despite the occasional lapse into dictatorship, the idea has basically survived ever since, because most people feel it works and as long as they get to vote every few years, they feel they are participating in government and their opinions are being heard.

However, in recent years, democracy has taken a few body blows, for example the Florida recount and in Thailand the overthrowing of the elected government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra by the military in 2006.

As Winston Churchill said: “Democracy is the best form of government except for all the rest”

However, this weekend, the limits of democracy’s credibility are going to be tested like never before. The people of Burma are going to vote in a referendum on a new constitution.

The draft constitution is part of the ruling military junta’s seven-step roadmap to democracy,

However, the referendum has been widely criticized as a ‘sham’. The junta has refused to allow foreign observers to monitor the vote and has turned over the organising of the referendum to the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a pro-junta militia who were used to suppress last year’s pro-democracy uprising. They are also believed to be responsible for the attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in November 1996.

Meanwhile, there has been almost no public discussion of the new constitution, with public meetings being banned.

Furthermore, many ordinary Burmese will not be familiar with the content of the draft constitution, since it was only made available to the public a month ago – at a cost of 1,000 kyat per copy, too expensive for most Burmese.

In the absence of a proper debate on the draft constitution, the official state run media has been towing the party line. On Friday state run MRTV urged viewers: “If you are patriotic and you love your nation you must give an affirmative vote.”

If as seems likely, the draft constitution passes, it will cement the military’s grip on power by stipulating that the Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces is entitled to nominate twenty five percent of all members of the People’s Assembly, the National Assembly and the State and Regional Assemblies. The Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces is also entitled to nominate the Minister for Defense (his boss), the Minister for the Interior and the Minister for Border affairs.

The president will be chosen from among three vice presidents, one of whom is to be nominated by Members of the Union Assembly appointed by the Chief of Staff of the Defense Forces

And, in a special nod to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who used to be married to a British national there is a clause that bars anyone who has been married to a foreign national from holding political office.

The junta is so determined to push through it’s constitution, that even last weekend’s deadly cyclone that claimed over 23,000 lives has been allowed to disrupt the vote, which will go ahead as planned on Saturday.

With Robert Mugabe running roughshod over the people’s right to elect their own leader in Zimbabwe, the international community cannot stand by as the SPDC contrives to entrench itself in power under the guise of democratic progress.

Last year the world watched in disgust as the SPDC brutally suppressed pro-democracy protests. But, they were let off the hook when the world’s attention was drawn elsewhere. We cannot let that happen this time.

Human Rights Watch said the international community should not give any credibility to the referendum process, and to firmly insist on real reform from Burma’s military rulers.

“The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his special envoy on Burma have a particular responsibility to speak out clearly and forcefully and make it clear that only a referendum that meets international standards will be recognized.”