Gambari's return fails to inspire Burmese Opposition

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1597-gambaris-return-fails-to-inspire-burmese-opposition.html

by Mungpi
Saturday, 24 January 2009 00:17

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma's main opposition party - the National League for Democracy - said it does not expect United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari's visit to yield fruit as the ruling generals are stubbornly determined to continue with their roadmap.

Nyan Win, spokesperson of the NLD, told Mizzima on Friday that so far Gambari's visits to Burma have failed to yield any productive result and it is not likely to change anything even if he comes again.

"We have heard that Mr. Gambari is to make another trip to Burma by the end of this month. We have made our views clear on his [Gambari's] visits." Nyan Win said.

"We have seen no results so far and do not expect it."

Nyan Win's comments came in the wake of news on Friday that the UN special envoy will make his seventh trip to the military-ruled country as part of his continued effort to usher political reconciliation in the country.


The four-day trip, January 31 to February 3, will be the first for Gambari to re-visit Burma in 2009 and is the seventh since he took up the job as the UN Secretary-General's special envoy to Burma in early 2006.

Like the NLD, several other Burmese observers view that Gambari's mission has not only failed but Burma's military rulers have been successful in manipulating the Nigerian diplomat to serve their purpose – easing international pressures.

Aye Thar Aung, Secretary of the Committee Representing Peoples Parliament (CRPP), an alliance formed with several ethnic political parties along with the NLD, said Gambari's mission has derailed and his re-visit is not likely to make any difference.

"So far there is no substantive progress made by the visits [of Gambari]. He has been used by the junta to spread their voice and to ease pressure," Aye Thar Aung, who is also Secretary of the Arakan League for Democracy (ALD), told Mizzima.

According to him, Gambari's only task is to convince the military to reconsider its roadmap and modify the constitution, which the junta said had been approved in a referendum in May 2008.

"But I don't think Gambari can convince the military and as long as the junta does not make it an all inclusive process [roadmap] and does not modify the constitution, we will not be participating in the process including the 2010 election," Aye Thar Aung said.

The CRPP, a group formed to represent the peoples' parliament based on the 1990 general election result, has earlier announced that it will boycott the 2010 election unless the government modifies its constitution and implement an all inclusive process of roadmap.

Similarly, the ALD has made clear that they are boycotting the election. But the NLD has so far taken no decisions on their role in the 2010 election, with Nyan Win saying, "The agenda for the 2010 election has not yet been discussed among us. We feel there is no need to discuss as of now."

Aye Thar Aung said, with Gambari's mission failing to show any political progress, "We the Burmese people have nothing left to hope from the United Nations."

But a Thailand based longtime observer and analyst Aung Naing Oo, said Gambari's mission should not be judged only in terms of political development. Gambari's mission includes convincing the junta of implementing a series of projects including poverty alleviation and establishing of an economic forum.

Aung Naing Oo, however, admits that Gambari's visit is unlikely to make any difference in terms of politics at this juncture. But it should be considered a success if there are any break through in other agendas.

While the opposition and observers question the effectiveness of Gambari's upcoming visit, the real task for the Nigerian diplomat, according to sources, will yet be getting to meet junta head Snr. General Than Shwe and detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, both of whom he failed to meet during his last visit.

During his last visit in August 2008, he failed to meet Burma's military Supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe and detained pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who spurned his two attempts to meet her.

Nyan Win, Burma's Foreign Minister, during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Burma Mr. Juan Mu in March 2008, said Gambari should not consider his visits unsuccessful if he was not allowed a meeting with Snr. Gen Than Shwe.

In the leaked meeting minutes, a copy of which is in Mizzima's possession, Nyan Win assured Juan Mu that Gambari should consider that he had talked to the Burmese government even if he is met by junior officials including him and that Gambari should feel confident of his mission though he may not meet Snr. Gen Than Shwe.

Nyan Win's assurance came as a response to China's request to allow Gambari a meeting with Snr. Gen Than Shwe and actors that he wishes to meet during his visit.

So much for China's request for Gambari, during his visit in March 2008, he met Snr. Gen Than Shwe and detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But he failed to convince the junta to allow an independent group to observe the referendum, which was conducted in May 2008 following his visit.