Myanmar without the Rule of Law is Power without Future

By, May Ng

Unlike religious organizations in other parts of the world, monks and monasteries in Burma do not ordinarily play a direct role in the country’s political process. As they are highly revered and usually remained untouched by worldly affairs, the monks’ dramatic involvement in the people’s September uprising represents a critical turning point for Burma.

Since the legitimacy of the military, as the protector of the nation, has been seriously compromised after the army began attacking the peaceful monks and demonstrators, the Burmese people are demanding the end to the military dictatorship. The end of the military dictatorship will not cause the collapse of Burma as some have suggested because it does not necessarily mean the end of the army itself.

Someone claimed that democracy may not find fertile soil in Burma, which has passed through thousand years of feudalism, 124 years of British colonial rule and 45 years of military dictatorship, with a tumultuous, 14-year experiment in democracy sandwiched in between. If years of not having democracy will disqualify a country from becoming democratic, then the world would not have any democracy at all. Since all nations begin with one of the above systems before becoming democracies, there is no reason why Burma cannot follow suit.

Another also argued that since Myanmar army is “a state-within-a-state as well as a privileged class, and the military provides its own with relatively good schools, health facilities, housing and jobs, while the public copes with a shattered infrastructure on less than US$1 a day,” there will be no easy way for Burma to become democracy overnight.

It may be so, but a sudden disappearance of current government system will mainly hurt a small percentage of the population, namely a handful of privileged people in the army. Under the present military dictatorship, majority of the people in Burma living on less than $1 a day are on some occasions forced to pay for expenses of the soldiers and the officials in addition. Sometime they are also forced to do slave labors for the government instead of earning a living for themselves. These people will be much better off without the military harassment. The sooner the political system is changed the better for most of the people in Burma.

In a letter, International Trade Union Confederation General Secretary Guy Ryder wrote that “in spite of the growing number of companies doing business in Burma; economic conditions for the vast majority of Burmese are deteriorating, while it is the military junta and its small coterie of supporters which are benefiting. This corrupt and incompetent regime is responsible for a catastrophic fall in living standards across the country. Foreign investment has done nothing to stop that. On the contrary, it fuels repression by enabling the regime to purchase weapons used against defenseless civilians: the army’s share in the national budget is 40%. Health and education combined amount to less than 7%! ‘Business as usual’ in Burma will only make the junta stronger.”

Burma has a legitimately elected government since 1990, which the army has been trying hard to destroy. A constitution by the democratic opposition has already been drawn, pending approval by the people or their elected representatives. The ethnic nationalities have been working on an acceptable form of federalism. The 88 generation has matured and there are many more people who have invested in developing a democratic system in Burma. An army of talented individuals and organizations committed to democratic cause are becoming a force to be reckoned with. Aung San Suu Kyi’s influence has only grown and Burma is ready for democracy more than ever.

As the government’s own legitimacy becomes less certain, Myanmar military leaders should pay attention to the consequence of lawlessness in Burma; especially the criminal acts committed in the name of the state against the innocent people. The lack of rule of law in Burma is also responsible for the present economic disaster.

Kenneth W. Dam wrote in the Law-Growth Nexus that institutions especially legal institutions are crucial to the process of economic development, and that they do so in a major way. He said that institutions mean rules, rather than organizations. The ‘rule of law,’ which helps protect the people and the economic incentives, is not the same as ‘rule by law’ when the people in power use the legal instruments to impose their arbitrary will.

According to Kenneth W. Dam the rule of law concerns two spheres of institutions and the legal rules. The first part has to do with the state; the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and regulatory agencies and the second has to do with the interactions among economic actors. The content of the legal rules and the ways the rules fit together in a legal system are most crucial. Legal rules must be written down, and they should apply and be enforced equally and dispassionately for all. No one should be above the law.

Unless a genuine political reform takes place and the lack of rule of law is addressed soon, Burma will not be able to overcome the current political and economic crisis. Consequently the junta government will not be able to recover from the latest lost of legitimacy as a government, and most importantly as an army, the protector of the nation.

Hours before his arrest, Ko Htay Kywe requested that Myanmar government resolves the political crisis in Burma with peaceful means. He said that using violence to prolong the military dictatorship will not end the crisis in Burma. And that international community should not wait to take action until the bloodshed worsens like in East Timor and Rwanda.

Myanmar military junta has been playing games with the UNSC and the envoy, Mr. Gambari, instead of taking serious steps toward a political reconciliation. Since the people’s lives will not improve without the urgent political reform, Burma is heading toward a more serious crisis ahead.

According to the monks’ leader Ashin U Gambira, “Burma’s Saffron Revolution is just beginning and the regime’s use of mass arrests, murder, torture and imprisonment has failed to extinguish our desire for the freedom that was stolen from us so many years ago. It matters little if my life or the lives of colleagues should be sacrificed on this journey. Others will fill our sandals, and more will join and follow.”

The People’s Monks

If a mountain of our people’s bones
Can free Burma from the grip of dictatorship
The bones of our abbots and monks will be lying at the bottom of the pile
By People’s Sangha

May Ng is from the Southern Shan State of Burma and an officer for Justice for Human Rights in Burma.