Prospect of Democracy in Burma Essay -- essays research papers fc

The facial expression of Democracy in BurmaThe prospect for the development of a democratic res publica in Burma has recently become a remote possibility. Burmas host leaders have been holding talks with the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the subject League for Democracy (NLD). The dialogue started while Aung San Suu Kyi was still under offer arrest. When she was released in 2002, the international community and the people of Burma expected the process to build up to the next stage substantive political negotiations. However, the whole process has stalled. Burmas military remain in concord.In justifying the hiatus, the Burmese military leaders engage in various forms of platitudinous rhetoric, carefully designed to change their totalitarian intent. The theme of this rhetoric is that the country is undergoing a intonation toward a multi-party democracy. Burmas influential intelligence chief, ecumenical Khin Nyunt, has warned that such a transition cannot be done in haste or in a haphazard manner. The world is full of examples where hasty transition from one ashes to another led to unrest, instability and even failed states . However, this linguistic charade is not consistently maintained. Burmas generals have made disturbing pronouncements that overtly see a highly compromised, paternalistic democracy. They assert that any democracy in Burma must incorporate Asian values, and is therefore incompatible with Hesperian models of democracy. The generals have proved recalcitrant in the face of international pressure, and continue with their particularly Burmese variant of democracy. Nyunt recently said that The democracy we taste to build may not be identical to the West just without delay it will surely be based on universal principles of liberty, nicety and equality. It is more than likely that Burmas military masterrs are now looking at the Chinese political model as the keister of their new constitution. This rhetoric, cen tered around various abstractions and elaborations of political vision, is calculated to remove from the decidedly non-democratic Burmese political reality. What has actually been happening is that the countrys top military leader Senior General Than Shwe has strengthened his control over both the army and the administrative structure. Ever since the arrest of 4 members of the former military dictator General Ne Wins famil... ...ase against the government - without provoking violence - while at the same beat cooperating with the generals in a dialogue which recognizes the limitations of its current political potency. BibliographyEvans, George, Human rights in Burma, Contemporary Review, Oct, 1994, v265, n1545, p178Jagan, Larry, Burmas opposition slowly rises from asheshttp//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1885565.stm BBC new-sprung(prenominal)s. 2002Jagan, Larry, Junta has brusk to celebrate http//www.rebound88.net/sp/junta/s14junta-thanshwe.htmlBangkok Post, 2002.Jagan, La rry, Deadlock in Burma http//www.himalmag.com/2002/october/burma.htm 2002.Lintner, Bertil, Divide and rule peace treaties marginalise democracy groups. far-off Eastern Economic Review, Jan 27, 1994, v157, n4, p20 Linter, Bertil, New camouflage army maintains tight controls despite election pledge, Far Eastern Economic Review, May 11, 1989, v144, n19, p32Maidment, Richard. Goldblatt, David. Mitchell, Jeremy. Governance in the Asia Pacific. Routlage, London, 1998.Seth, Mydans, Burmese General Says Transition to Democracy Will Be Slow. http//www.burmaforumla.org/burmese_general_says_transition_.htm New York Times, 2002.