AN
INTERVIEW WITH DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI
"Dialogue is not a debate in
which there will
be winners and losers"
Debbie
Stothard (from KJ#38)
Journalists
are routinely denied visas to enter Burma. Debbie Stothard, of ALTSEAN-BURMA,
with representatives of Kyoto Seika University, interviewed Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on July 15th 1998 (shortly before her first extended
"car-sit" attempt to visit supporters outside the city). The tapes were
brought out by undercover courier; property including film and NLD literature
was confiscated from the interviewers by military police. KSU's interview
was one of a series with Nobel Peace Laureates, focusing on freedom,
marking the university's 30th anniversary.
How
do you describe the situation in the country at the moment?
ASSK:
Well, it's a very interesting time for everybody, and it's also a very
crucial time. As you probably know, we have asked for a Parliament to
be convened before the 21st of August. Now we have waited very patiently
for eight years, and the people have waited patiently for eight years,
for their will to be implemented, so this is a time when we have got
to see what the government is going to do, how much goodwill they are
going to demonstrate towards the people, and towards the movement for
democracy. After all, they have always claimed that they want to democratize
Burma.
Do
you think it is likely that the military regime will have dialogue with
the National League for Democracy (NLD) soon?
We've
always said that they will have to have dialogue sooner or later, and
we've always hoped that it would be sooner rather than later! I would
have thought now was the best time, because prior to the convening of
Parliament it would be sensible for both sides to talk to each other.
Will
the NLD convene Parliament with or without the military?
This
is not something that I can answer now, but what I can tell you is this,
that we consider it our responsibility to implement the will of the
people, and we will certainly not fail in carrying out our responsibility.
What
do you think is the position of the average Burmese in the country?
Unhappy.
People are poor, their children are not getting properly educated, their
health is not looked after, the future seems very bleak, unless there
is change. So I would say that the average citizen in Burma is hoping
for change, not just hoping, but longing and praying for change!
And
how do you think that dialogue will help the average Burmese person?
Our
idea of dialogue is a way of finding a solution that would be beneficial
to the great majority of our people. I can't see a solution that will
be beneficial for everybody, because there is hardly ever a human solution
that can be applied to everybody, but dialogue would be the means of
finding a way forward, finding a way out of these problems under which
we have been drowning for so many years.
Do
you think that the international community will help accelerate the
road to dialogue?
We
think that the international community can help if they have a will
to do so, because in this day and age, as no man is an island unto himself,
no country is an island unto itself, not even a country like Japan or
England, which are geographically islands.
There
has been some concern among certain diplomats that NLD does not have
transitional plan?
Well
there are two reasons why we cannot talk about a transitional plan.
First of all you have to recognize the fact that we are a much-harassed
and persecuted party, and it is not in our interest to reveal our plans,
because usually that gets our people into trouble. Also, there is another
reason--we do have a transitional plan, but we are open to suggestions.
We have always said that we don't want a zero-sum solution. We have
our plan, of course, but we want to talk it over with the authorities,
after all, it is at present the SPDC which is in power, and since we
want to bring about change through non-violent means, that means we
want to bring about change through dialogue and negotiation, so our
plans, our hopes, our timetable as it were, is a flexible one, and it
would be subject to negotiation and discussion.
In
a few days time, the ASEAN ministerial meeting will be held in Manila,
followed by the ASEAN Regional Forum which will be attended by representatives
of key countries throughout the world. What specific steps should they
be supporting, in regards to Burma?
I
think the first thing they can do is to support our call for the convening
of Parliament, and make a very very firm case for dialogue towards that
process. It is the first step towards democratization. How can we talk
about democratization when the elections that took place eight years
ago have still not been honored? So we would very much like the ASEAN
countries to give full support to our call for the convening of Parliament,
in the full understanding that this call was not and is not a confrontational
move, but a positive step towards the democratization of Burma.
Certain
key players, including the military regime, and some investors, are
afraid of that, because they may lose their positions in a country in
which dialogue has taken place and parliament has been convened. What
is your response to that?
We
have said again and again that dialogue is not a debate in which there
will be winners and losers. A dialogue will be a process through which
we can come to a solution which will be beneficial to the great majority
of us, which would be of benefit to both sides, or to all participants
in the dialogue process. We are not out to punish anybody, we are not
out to crush or annihilate anybody, that is not our way, that is not
our policy. What we want to do is to bring about national reconciliation,
so that as few people as possible will lose out from the process. In
fact what we want to find is a solution that will be a win-win one,
a win-win solution for everybody concerned.
There
has been concern that you might be threatened owing to recent developments,
for instance the attack in front of your house, being surrounded in
your car when you attempted to go out of Rangoon. What is the situation
with regard to your personal safety?
Well,
I'm as safe as anyone in Burma, which of course is not saying much,
if you are under a dictatorial regime, because when there is no rule
of law, nobody is really safe. So I can only say that I am as safe as
anybody can be in a country where there is no rule of law.
Is
it likely that the situation could become increasingly dangerous?
For
whom? For me?
For
you, and the NLD leadership?
Well,
I don't think we could be in more danger than we have been for the last
ten years.
There
has been concern about your personal safety, and that the NLD is provoking
a confrontation in the country, with the military. What is your response
to that?
Well,
we are not provoking any sort of confrontation. We are only asking for
what is the due, not of the NLD, but of the people of Burma. To ask
for the convening of Parliament is tantamount to asking for the recognition
of the will of the people as expressed through the elections of 1990.
So we are only asking for what is due to the people of Burma. That should
not be looked upon as a provocation or a confrontation, particularly
in view of the fact that we have waited patiently for eight years. Eight
years is a long time to wait for somebody to keep his promise, so I
do not think we are provoking anybody. If they are afraid of anything,
if anybody is nervous that the convening of Parliament will lead to
instability within the country they only have to talk to us about it,
so that we can come to a mutual understanding, whereby there will not
take place anything that will upset the stability of the country.
What
will the NLD be prepared to do in the next few weeks?
I
can hardly give you a blow by blow detailed account of what our intentions
are, but I can only say that we are prepared to do everything that we
need to do in order to serve the people, and in order to keep our promise
to the people that we will work for democracy.
In
the past few years we have seen a substantial injection of funds into
the Burmese economy, through development aid and through business investment
from Japan. How do you think that is helping the Burmese people?
We
don't think that injecting funds into Burma under the present circumstances
helps the Burmese people at all. But if the Japanese were dealing with
a government that truly represents the people, that would be another
matter. But to be dealing with a government which is a dictatorial one,
is really not the same as dealing with the people of Burma. So investing
in Burma at the moment very often amounts to nothing more than support
of the present regime.
There
have been comments made in the Japanese media that visitors to Burma
have found there are no tanks in the street, that the people are happy
and smiling, and there does not seem to be any visible violations taking
place in the country.
Do
they want to see people being shot on the streets before they take action?
I think that's a very irresponsible attitude. What they've got to think
about is not what they see in the streets, but what they don't see.
For example, the political prisoners in the jails of Burma. So what
they see is not what counts, it's what they don't see that counts. The
harassment to which we are subjected every day--every day almost, we
hear about somebody who has been detained or arrested. It's not a normal
life to have to ask, now who was arrested last night? This is not the
way people should live, this is not the way people should be made to
live. Just because there are no tanks out in the street, is no reason
for saying there is nothing wrong with this country. How many countries
are there in the world where there are tanks out in the street? And
yet there are many countries in the world where the people are not allowed
their basic rights. Investment and aid will help the people of Burma
when there is a government which is responsible and accountable to the
people. That is to say, when there is a government that truly represents
the will of the people.
So
what is the biggest step, or the most significant action that Japanese
people and the Japanese government can take to help the people of Burma?
At
the moment the NLD has called for the convening of Parliament, that
is to say we have asked that the results of the elections of 1990 be
implemented, and I think the best way in which the people and the government
of Japan can help the people of Burma is to help us with the convening
of Parliament, to realize that this is the first step towards democratization,
and until there is democratization, there is no way in which Japan can
help the people of Burma.
Debbie
Stothard is a coordinator and spokesperson for the Alternative Asean
Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-BURMA), based in Bangkok. She is co-editor
of From Consensus to Controversy - ASEAN's Relationship with Burma's
SLORC, and BURMA: Voices of Women in the Struggle, both published
by ALTSEAN-BURMA.
Copyright
held by the author
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