Security: A New Battlefront for the Burmese

Government
November 3rd, 2010
By: Banya Hongsar, Canberra, November, 2010 : On
November 7th, Burma will be holding a national election after 22
years of military rule that has placed the nation under insecurity
and subsequent poverty. Public security is the crucial issue facing
the Burmese government in the post election period. Unless poverty
and security issues are addressed, the dream for democracy will not
be met.
A battle ground for the new government is real – not just to stop a
new civil war, but to bring about a peace accord and political
settlement. Governing by the rule of law underpins a democratic
society in the modern era and the Burmese government has not
heeded the rule of law for over six decades. Human rights abuses
are reported daily, soldiers constantly escaping punishment for
raping rural ethnic women. Six-decades of racial discrimination
against the ethnic people must end. Both the elected president, and
government troops stationed in ethnic territories, must be held
accountable for breaking the law.
This current civil war between the ethnic people’s army and the
Burmese government has caused poverty and insecurity. For a
democracy to exist effectively, the ethnic people must be granted the
right to self-determination under the new parliamentary system,
but for this to happen the constitution must be changed.
After twenty years of deadlock, the Burmese people need to find an
alternative way to change their national political system. One
example may be found in Indonesia’s Aceh Province. Ben Hilliman,
a researcher from The Centre for Democratic Institutions at
Australian National University based in Canberra, recently asserted
in a policy paper that “as for arguments that local political parties
will exacerbate ethnic or regional divisions by institutionalizing
cleavages in the party system, Aceh is an example of how such risks
can be mitigated. So far, Aceh’s experience suggests that, if
managed properly, local political parties can help build legitimacy
and provide political access to communities that might otherwise
not be represented in the political system.”
Unfortunately, optimism for government change is hard to find as it
is well known that the current military elites will only change their
uniform and continue to control the executive power as civilians in
the new government. This new government will especially have to
deal with one man, Senior General Than Shwe, in order to balance
power between the parliament and the military dominated
executive power. He has been called the ‘ghost’ of the election,
remaining behind the scenes as a powerful force of manipulation.
The November 7th elections will inform us about the possibility for
change and democracy, but I have little hope.
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