Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi talked of a need for a “whole movement of better governance” in Burma, at National League for Democracy’s crowded Rangoon headquarters on Monday.

Suu Kyi took questions from Mizzima on a range of topics. She was released from house arrest on November 13 this year, a week after national elections she and her party have widely denounced as sham. She also said last month that the NLD would launch an investigation into electoral fraud after her release. It has now completed a draft report on the various incidents of junta electoral fraud, Mizzima reported today.

Mizzima asked Suu Kyi for her views on the viability of the individual candidates and parties without links to the military who took part in the election, and what she thought about those seats gained. 

Pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to Mizzima at National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon, on Monday, November 29, 2010. She stressed the paramount importance of the NLD’s insistence on accountability and transparency as keys to reform in Burma. Photo: Mizzima

“This was their choice … they are several parties and I think they will have differing opinions on what the elections really meant, I think that’s something you will have to ask them …  those who contested the elections, they must speak for themselves, as for how much they think the elections have achieved or not achieved,” she said.

“We boycotted the elections because we did not believe in the 2008 constitution, and we did not think the election rules were free and fair. There is no way that we could have contested the elections by abandoning our comrades in prison, so we decided not to contest the elections.”

She stressed the paramount importance of the NLD’s insistence on accountability and transparency as the keys to reform in Burma. “We’ve always asked for transparency and accountability in governance; good governance requires transparency and accountability, and this is something that we have to talk about,” she said.

When asked about whether she thought that dialogue and interaction between the NLD and the military was a realistic possibility in the current situation, she said:

“Why not? People keep saying that ‘You’ve asked for dialogue for a long time and the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council, the junta’s name for itself] has not responded, so why do you keep on persisting?’ But if people felt that then we would never have had progress as a human race would we? We’d have to go back right to the beginning and those apes would have said ‘Why are you trying to get up on two legs? You’ll never get there.’ And yet here we are, standing up.”

Suu Kyi denied any purported opposition to the launch of a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity carried out by the Burmese ruling military junta, proposed in a March report to the UN by its special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana. She said, “No, I have said nothing of the kind,” and when on to reiterate the need for engagement and dialogue with the military.

“People talk about that fact that perhaps the military are nervous because we will take action against them if ever there were democratic government, and they would be made to pay for this and for that, but this is just mere speculation. And it is precisely because of fears like that, that we need to talk to each other, to sort out what we really want for our country,” she said.

Mizzima asked whether Suu Kyi thought that the military were ready to co-operate and initiate reform in Burma hand in hand with transparency and accountability.

Suu Kyi said: “I don’t think the military has shown any particular keenness for transparency and accountability, but that is no reason why we shouldn’t call for it … It’s not a matter of what the military wants or what the military does not want, it’s a matter of what is needed for the country,”.

In her conference on November 14, she said that education was paramount to reform in a future Burma, and told Mizzima that the NLD was willing to use issues such as health and education to co-operate with the military:

“Health, education, anything that really affects the welfare of the people, we will be very, very happy to co-operate with anybody … I think there must come a time when the military decides to co-operate with the forces that represent the people,” she said.

‘The first step towards unity is to listen.’

The NLD have supported the call for a second Panglong Conference in Burma, and the task of organising such a bid to guarantee the equality and self-determination rights of ethnic peoples was handed to Suu Kyi by Zomi National Congress (ZNC) party chairman Pu Cing Tshing Thang, Mizzima reported on November 25.

The first Panglong Agreement was a deal reached between the Burmese government under Suu Kyi’s father, independence hero Aung San, and the Shan, Kachin and Chin peoples on February 12, 1947, and was designed with the spirit of unity in mind among ethnic nationalities in Burma to form a united front for independence.

When asked for her thoughts on how the military could be involved in creating unity via a new Panglong Conference, Suu Kyi stressed that “the first step towards unity is to listen. To establish unity in a country like Burma where there are many different ethnic groups, you have to listen, especially if you are in a position of power”.

“And by listening you will hear what it is that the people want, what their aspirations are, what their hopes are, what their fears are. Once you understand this then you can start building up a foundation on which we can create unity out of diversity,” she said.

She also responded to questions about Burma’s economic situation and gave a general appraisal on contracts between the junta and foreign governments and companies.

Foreign investment deals made with the military in Burma has led to billions of dollars of revenue (largely from the sale of natural gas and oil) being unaccounted for. Although some Western governments have imposed economic sanctions on the regime and have invested little capital in Burma, its neighbours China, India and Thailand all heavily invest in deals with the junta.

Suu Kyi advised that there should not be a halt on deals brokered between the military and foreign governments and companies, but said: “We believe in the rule of law, and whatever we do, we will respect the rule of law.”

She also reiterated the need for transparency and accountability in Burma to attain good governance and management of the country’s resources and development.

“This is why we say that good governance requires transparency and accountability. It is because the public do not know what is happening to the revenues that we can’t do anything about using them more effectively, for the country in general,” she said.

A new generation has grown up in Burma since Suu Kyi was flung into politics upon her return to Burma and became general secretary of the NLD in 1988. People who were born in 1989, the year Suu Kyi was first put under house arrest, are 21 years old. Suu Kyi seemed confident that Burmese young people were more political than ever.

“I myself find far greater participation of youth in political activities, than was the case seven years ago. So I think that the youth are much more … aware of the fact that they need to be part of those who are working for change, that they just can’t sit back and expect change to happen without any effort on their parts. So it’s a good, good thing, a good change,” she said.

Suu Kyi was also keen to assure that youth had a place in the NLD. “We have a lot of younger people in rather responsible positions. I mean you’ve heard of Phyu Phyu Thin, and she’s young, but she’s a member of the central committee,” she said.

Phyu Phyu Thin is in charge of the South Dagon HIV/Aids “salvation centre” on the outskirts of Rangoon one of a number of hospices the NLD set up in 2002, which Suu Kyi visited on November 17. The recent bid to force the eviction of residents from the centre by junta authorities, seemingly out of spite over Suu Kyi’s visit, fails to bode well for imminent co-operation between the NLD and the military.

Suu Kyi’s connection to her father General Aung San, considered the father of Burmese independence, is implicit in her popularity today.

The NLD office in Rangoon is adorned with pictures of father and daughter. At her November 14 conference, a large poster of Suu Kyi and Aung San was on display. When asked how integral she thought this familial connection was, Suu Kyi told Mizzima her link to her father, was “very important”.

“The people trusted him and politicians who can be trusted are rather rare nowadays. So they are very devoted to my father and they feel that he was a leader they could have depended on him if only he had lived,” she said.

Suu Kyi said that now she was freed from house arrest she planned to meet a lot of people and groups in person, and to fully utilise modern media to communicate with the public.