Suu Kyi Warns US, EU Of 'Over-Optimism' About Myanmar
(Vatican Radio) Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has warned the United States
and European Union not to be "over-optimistic" about Burma and said her Asian nation
is not yet a democracy, despite sweeping reforms after decades of military rule. The
Nobel Peace Prize laureate spoke in Hungary's capital Budapest following meetings
with government leaders during a tour through several former Communist countries in
Central and Eastern Europe.
Suu Kyi told Vatican Radio and other reporters
that nations who removed sanctions against Burma, also known as Myanmar, should realize
the struggle for democracy is far from over.
"I think it is right to remove
sanctions. But now it is more important than ever for those countries which have
lifted sanctions, that is to say the United States and the EU and other countries,
to look at the situation in Burma very objectively and not to be over optimistic,"
she
said.
They should "recognize the fact that Burma is not yet a democracy
until this constitution
is changed," the opposition leader added.
The
military-backed constitution bans anyone, including Suu Kyi, from leading the country
because
their spouses or children are foreign nationals.
Suu Kyi, who wants to participate
in the 2015 presidential ballot, stressed that the next few months will determine
whether Burma becomes truly democratic.
"If the government does not support
moves to amend the constitution than I think we can [conclude] that the government
is not interested in genuine democracy," Suu Kyi said.
A report, demanded
by parliament on possible constitutional changes that is due by the end of the year,
will "show how genuine the present government is about democratization", she explained.
Asked whether she was contemplating boycotting the elections, Suu Kyi
said her Democratic League for Democracy "believes in keeping doors open for as long
as possible" and is still negotiating with the current leadership on constitutional
changes.
She made clear that the legal changes are also essential to end ethnic
conflicts, including reported attacks by Burmese government forces against the mainly
Christian Kachin community, which has killed several villagers in recent months and
displaced as many as 100,000 civilians.
"Without rule of law we cannot achieve
peace within the country. We cannot encourage different ethnic nationalities and different
communities to sit down and talk to one another if they do not feel secure," Suu Kyi
noted.
Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest during Burma's
military rule, said she had "no regrets", was "never afraid to die" and learned "how
to live alone" before she was
released following the controversial 2010 elections.
The
68-year-old gentle-mannered democracy icon became opposition parliamentarian under
reforms introduced by the nominally civilian government of President Thein Sein, installed
in 2011.
She arrived in Hungary from Poland and travels Saturday to the Czech
Republic as part of a tour through the former Communist countries of Central and Eastern
Europe.
While in Poland, her fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Walesa,
who in the 1980s led the protests that helped oust Poland's Communist authorities,
told her to remain optimistic.
"We lost a number of battles before accomplishing
success," said the former shipyard worker who became Poland's first democratically
elected president. Burma was in "a similar situation" he noted. "They lose some battles,
but in general they'll probably win the war," Walesa said.
"One of the
things we've learned is that we can look to the Central European countries to
support
our efforts in a way in which perhaps the mature democracies can not do," noted Suu
Kyi later in Budapest, where she also met Hungary's President János Áder and other
officials.
"Not because they do not wish us well, but because they have
not gone through the same
experiences. The uprising for democracy in Burma
started in 1988. After that, I like to think the Central European followed our example
and started working toward democracy...But they went on much more quickly," Suu Kyi
stressed.
Hungary, which shrugged of Communism in 1989, has offered computer
programs to help Burma chair the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASIAN) meeting
for the first time in 2014 and will provide 30 scholarships to Burmese students, said
Deputy Foreign Minister Zsolt Németh. To help with Burma's transition, five Burmese
legislators are in Hungary to study the operations of parliament, the Constitutional
Court, the State Audit Office and other institutions, officials said.
In Budapest,
Suu Kyi was also asked by a reporter to imagine her visiting the violent city of
Damascus and what she would say there to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and to
those fighting against his rule.
"I don't know President Assad personally,
so I would hesitate to say how I would approach him. But speaking from my own convictions,
I do not think violence really helps us to achieve the kind of nation that I like
my people to live in," she said.
"And if he wants his people to live in peace
and harmony, than I hope he will do
everything possible to avoid violence."
She
spoke to media at Hungary's Foreign Ministry sitting next to László Tőkés, the Reformed
bishop-turned Euro-parliamentarian from Romania, who played a key role in the 1989
Revolution against Romanian Communist ruler Nicolae Ceausescu.
Tőkés
and government official Németh praised the Burmese opposition leader "as an inspiration"
for her non-violent actions comparing her to Soviet-era dissidents and America's
Martin Luther King or India's Mahatma Gandhi.
"Her style is unique in
politics. We consider it important that the regime does not halt the reforms and that
there will be free elections in 2015 and freedom for political prisoners," Németh
said.