Suu Kyi cautions Myanmar ‘not yet a democracy’

BERLIN, Germany – Myanmar’s opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi warned on Friday, April 11, that her country, despite a spate of reforms hailed by the international community, “is not yet a democracy.”

Speaking in Berlin to accept a human rights award, she said the country formerly called Burma still needs a democratic constitution, true national reconciliation and a change of mindset among its ex-military rulers.

She urged the world to keep a close eye on the government and to ask: “Does it want to go toward a truly democratic union or does it want to go towards an authoritarian state disguised in democratic garb?” (READ: Myanmar president backs constitutional amendment)

Suu Kyi, 68, was released from years of house arrest in 2010, and a quasi-civilian government led by former general Thein Sein has since pushed reforms that have ended Myanmar’s pariah status, lifted sanctions and sparked an investment boom.

The former political prisoner has entered parliament, and her National League for Democracy (NLD) plans to contest elections next year, hoping to repeat a sweeping 1990 victory that was ignored by the former junta.

However, her desire to seek the presidency remains blocked by a clause specifically designed for her, which bars anyone with a foreign spouse or children from taking the position. Her late husband was a British national.

Constitutional change needed

Suu Kyi pointed out that Myanmar’s constitution also still “gives the military a very special role in the life of our nation,” by guaranteeing its members a quarter of parliamentary seats and therefore political veto power.

“Unless we change the constitution … so-called democratic reform in Burma will be no more than window-dressing,” she said.

Suu Kyi was receiving the Willy Brandt Award – the latest in a long line of human rights awards she has picked up since being permitted to travel again in 2012.

However, her reputation has been tarnished over the past 18 months as a result of her failure to comment on brutal sectarian violence targeting Muslims in Myanmar, as well as continued military attacks against ethnic minority rebels.

She also met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.

Thanking her international supporters for backing the cause of freedom, she cautioned that “Burma is not yet a democracy. We have been given the chance to build a democratic society, we have not yet built one.” – Rappler.com