Something Good Coming From Myanmar

Despite the disappearances of monks and the deadly mayhem that had befell Rangoon, something slightly good has come out of Myanmar, due mainly to the intensified international pressure on the military junta over there led by Senior General Than Shwe. With China’s earlier rebuke of the crackdown in Myanmar and now India’s threat to disengage entirely with the leadership over there (where China and India remains the only avid ally of the military junta), General Than Shwe backs-off in a very huge way and had called for a talk with the U.S diplomats concerning the crisis over there. And just minutes ago, General Than Shwe had even agreed to have a talk with apprehended Burmese freedom icon Aung San Suu Kyi, probably on the possible direction that Myanmar had to take, away and distinct from what it is right now.

This is a major major development if you ask me and I feel some relief over this. The military leadership in Rangoon is not that hard-as-stone afterall and may be open to malleable compromises.

Actually—-in fairness to the military junta over there—-a Myanmar parliament had always been in the making but what had always happened is that it had always come-up suspect of military cookery, like that of Marcosian Batasan Pambansa where every member where allegedly hand-picked and the whole parliamentary body were just a farce. And because of the bloody military crackdown, fairness is not an apt word to use at this time.

But now, I surmise that nothing sort of that would happen again. I expect that part of the talks would include the holding of a genuine consultation with the people, through a valid election and then the formation of a truly popular electorate and government. This is the only way Myanmar could escape the intensified embargoes against it or else, it would wither like a plant without water and sunlight. Iraq was like that—-despite that it was an oil producing countries, misery and poverty had encumbered upon it that it’s citizens were suffering on daily rations for a long time. I do not mean that the Myanmar populace would suffer like that (And I wish Iraqis were not disturbed by such) but sanctions really work that way.

Whatever comes out of the talks. I wish the best of luck for Myanmar and I wish their people very well.