Myanmar News Articles: Hard road to democracy still ahead of Burma

Opustit tisk

Barmská disidentka a nositelka Nobelovy ceny za mír Do Aun Schan Su Ťij 15. září v Praze na slavnostním zahájení konference Forum 2000.

published: 16.09.2013, 17:37 | updated: 16.09.2013 17:42:10

Prague - Burma is still at the beginning of the road to democracy that will be hard but hopefully not long, Burmese opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi told participants in the Forum 2000 conference of world´s thinkers and politicians today.

At the conference´s opening on Sunday, Suu Kyi warned against too much optimism in connection with the further development in Burma.

She noted that most of the present Burmese government members are people who were part of the regime of a military junta that ruled the country for decades.

It is apparent from this that there still is a lot Burma needs to do, the former dissident who won the Nobel Peace Prize said.

Suu Kyi said the present Burmese constitution does not seem to be a sufficient guarantee of a democratic development because it does not include enough safeguards against power abuse and it does not guarantee the people´s right to choose a government they would like to have.

She said a democratic government would be one that makes people feel so secure that they would not fear to criticise it or even oppose it, one that would listen to people and have confidence in them, one that would care for them but not interfere in their lives too much, one that would not hesitate to give up its power when its time comes.

Suu Kyi said the Burmese governments have failed to have these qualities so far.

Due to her political activities, Suu Kyi was in house arrest for many years. She was only released from it in 2010 after Burma embarked on the road towards democracy. This is her first visit to Prague.

Suu Kyi met Czech President Milos Zeman and Foreign Minister Jan Kohout earlier today.

In the past years, Forum 2000 conference organisers had regularly left an empty chair for Suu Kyi, pointing to her involuntary absence.

This year's 17th Forum 2000, a conference established by late Czech president Vaclav Havel, focuses on societies in transition. Suu Kyi recalled at the conference on Sunday that Havel refused his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and proposed her instead.

Author:

ČTK
www.ctk.cz