Easing Burma’s chains
Under President Thein Sein, a former general, the shackles are slowly being loosened in Burma after a half-century of army misrule.
On April 1 democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her reformist National League for Democracy will run for byelection seats in parliament, the most hopeful sign yet of what U.S. President Barack Obama calls “flickers of progress.” Granted, it’s a fledgling step.
Even if Suu Kyi’s reformers sweep all 48 seats, Thein Sein’s promilitary regime (elected in a crooked ballot in 2010) and the army will rule until the 2015 elections. They hold 80 per cent of the 664 seats in both chambers. Indeed, the military appoints 25 per cent of them.
Still, many of Burma’s 50 million people feel hopeful that democracy is within sight. That’s reason enough for Foreign Minister John Baird to visit Burma this week to meet with Thein Sein and Suu Kyi and to endorse reform, as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others have done. If the vote goes well Canada should begin to ease sanctions, but only cautiously.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, hails Thein Sein as a “sincere” reformer. Yet others in the regime don’t share his views. Recently Suu Kyi has been allowed to reconnect with her reform constituency, political prisoners have been freed, and curbs on the media and trade unions have been eased. Even so, the constitution lets the military dominate politics and much of the economy. Fearing the Arab Spring’s power, and needing foreign capital, the generals have eased up. But they haven’t let go.
Instead, a deal has been struck to gradually bring Suu Kyi’s supporters back into the political process, thus legitimizing it, perhaps on the tacit understanding that an eventual reform government will overlook past army crimes.
Last year Canada and Burma named ambassadors to each other’s country, thawing a deep freeze. Given recent progress Canada now has reason to ease diplomatic and travel restrictions on officials who embrace reform. But Ottawa should make lifting strict trade, technology, and financial and investment sanctions contingent on further positive change. That’s something Baird can usefully gauge during his visit.