Burmese opposition leader urges international community to join forces to push junta on reform

Press Release: 

Burmese opposition leader urges international community to join forces to push junta on reform 

Stockholm, December 29, 1997 --The Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has urged the international community to join forces to pressure the military government for political change. 

She said the international community should make more efforts to work in a “concerted” way to push for change in Burma, “rather than having the European Union, the United States or the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations working in different manners.”  

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s comments were given in Rangoon recently when she met with representatives for Stockholm-based International IDEA (the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). 

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is a board member of International IDEA, but has only been able to attend the organization’s meetings by telephone as the junta has restricted her movements and she cannot travel. The National League for Democracy, which she heads, won a land-slide victory in elections held in Burma in 1990.  The Burmese junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) choose to ignore the results. 

The SLORC changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council in November and made major changes to the cabinet although the top leadership remained the same. 

In the interview, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi specifically asked that the United Nations General Assembly focus on Burma.   

“Actually the UN resolution on Burma says it all.  If that resolution was to be implemented our problems would be solved.  It calls for democracy, for dialogue, for recognition of the 1990 election.  All we need from the international community is that it demonstrates that it is serious about this resolution, that they are not going to be satisfied with only words.” 

She also urged  European students to mobilize and push their leaders for taking a tougher stand on Burma.   

“I am told that students these days are more concerned about material values but to get public mobilization on the issue of Burma one has to work through the universities.  It is always the best way,” she said.  

Commending the American students for their activism on behalf of Burma, she  
called for a similar mobilization in Europe, and recommended that a conference on Burma be held with European and Burmese students from around the world.  “It is through the students you manage to get hold of large sections of the population.  They are active.  They tell others.”   

Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi, commenting on the political situation in her country, said:  “We suffer every day from lack of justice.  A strong judicial system and proper courts are necessary.  We want people to know what they should demand and what their rights are.”   

She called for a dialogue with the military regime to break the political stalemate.  “Everything has to be directed towards a dialogue,” she said   “But it is very difficult to convince them, being the authoritarian government they are, that the opposition is trying to initiate a peaceful dialogue.  They probably believe that we will treat them as they have treated us.” 

International IDEA (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance) was founded in February 1995. The Institute’s overall objective is to promote and advance sustainable democracy world-wide and to improve and consolidate electoral processes. To date, Members are Australia, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana,Canada,Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, India, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, and Parliamentarians for Global Action. The Institute also has co-operative agreements with the International Commission of Jurists, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the United Nations Development Programme. Switzerland also contributes to the work of the Institute.