Clearing the decks

Posted on November 17, 2008
Filed Under Burma news, Commentary |

By now it should be obvious to everyone that the roadmap to democracy put forward by Burma’s military junta is a sham.
The junta are clearly not interested in returning the country to full democracy. Nor are they interested in relinquishing power and letting the people decide their own future.
The new constitution, which is at the heart of the roadmap only serves to legitimise military rule and even increases the military’s grip on power. Under the new constitution, one quarter of the seats in both houses of parliament are reserved for military officers. And, the country’s military chief has the right to suspend the constitution at any time.  And, in an apparent bid to block opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, anyone who has been married to a foreign national is barred from holding political office.
The document was drafted without any input from opposition parties or groups representing ethnic minorities, and approved by 92 percent of voters in a referendum that has been universally criticised with many international observers questioning the legality of the result.
Having already stacked the deck in their favour, one would assume the junta would now be happy to proceed to elections they had promised for 2010.  But, having been surprised by the overwhelming support for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy in the 1990 elections, it seems the junta is leaving nothing to chance.
The harsh sentences handed out to pro-democracy activists in recent weeks are not merely meant to act as a deterrent to others, but also effectively eliminate any series opposition participation in the polls. Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said, “Burma’s leaders are clearing the decks of political activists before they announce the next round of sham political reforms.
“Prosecuting lawyers who defend activists shows that the generals don’t want to leave anything at these trials to chance.”

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