S.H.A.N. : Tuesday, 03 November 2009 11:13 By: Sai Wansai

Kurt Campbell, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, together with Scot Marciel, the US special envoy to Southeast Asia, will be in Burma from 3rd to 4th November on a fact-finding mission. It is the highest level diplomatic engagement between US and Burma within 14 years.

It is said that the four person US delegation also includes Laura Scheible, the State Department’s Burma officer, which is scheduled to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, democratic opposition and ethnic parties’ leaders.

Generally, it is assumed that officially Mr. Campbell fact-finding mission to Burma will be  focused mainly around two points: reconciliation and democratisation. But weaning out massive Chinese influence and  concern over proliferation of nuclear weapons, in the wake of North Korea-Burma shady relations, will also be high on its agenda.

Kurt Campbell

Either way, let us just concentrate on the said reconciliation and democratisation processes, in the light of Mr. Campbell’s fact-finding mission.

Reconciliation has been a buzz-word, both for the Burmese junta and the whole opposition spectrum, for quite sometimes in Burma political arena. But the earnest overtures have only come from  opposition political parties and non-Burman ethnic groups in form of federal proposal and tripartite dialogue to end the internal conflict. Whereas the Burmese junta has been pressurising and oppressing its contenders, on a constant basis, to yield to its self-drawn, military supremacy constitution,  leading to the establishment of its so-called “discipline flourishing democracy”, without offering any genuine give-and-take option to further reconciliation.

When U Win Tin, the senior NLD leader, speaking on PM Thein Sein’s comment that Aung San Suu Kyi has a role to play, on 27 October 2009, that “reconciliation is more than just a word or concept and must be practised at the dialogue table”, he is pin-pointing the fact of junta’s rigid, non-compromising position vis-à-vis the opposition camp as a whole.

It is like saying, “Here is our roadmap and constitution. You could participate according to our rules and game plan or you could  choose to sit it out. Anyway, we are going ahead, with or without your participation.”

As all are aware, the chance of real, genuine reconciliation could only come about in a give-and-take atmosphere and not one party imposing its will on the other. Perhaps, Mr. Campbell’s fact-finding mission could dwell on this core issue in details and find ways or mediate to correct the imbalance nature, which is blocking the real reconciliation process.

In addition, Mr. Campbell could urge the junta to take concrete actions to improve the  reconciliation climate, by withdrawing its troops confronting the cease-fire and resistance armies in non-Burman ethnic areas, halting its human rights violations, declaring nation-wide cease-fire and releasing all political prisoners to pave way for urgently needed, reconciliation talks.

Similarly, democratisation process, which would lead to all-inclusiveness, equality and rights of self-determination of the people have to be taken into account.

The  junta’s self-drawn constitution of 2008 is a joke and everybody knows that it is designed to give the military a continuous supremacy role over civilian population.

According to Alternative Asean’s press release on 30 October 2009, the 2010 election, based on junta’s 2008 constitution, will be a recipe for continued conflict. The constitution has given the military, immunity from prosecution and freedom from public accountability; control over future constitutional amendments; and  legitimacy to subjugate ethnic communities.

Again, Mr.Campbell could focus his fact-finding on how people and the organisations that represent them think of the junta’s 2008 constitution. In short, it should be viewed in the light of whether it is really in line with the people’s political aspiration or not. For without the people’s endorsement, which is the heart and soul of the issue, there would never be a democratisation process.

The solution to resolve this ongoing crisis, from the point of opposition camps, could be summed up as, a constitutional review process involving all stakeholders and the election law that guarantee all-inclusive participation, after the constitutional amendments to reflect common practice.

According to the Voice of America report on 02 November 2009, David Steinberg, a professor of Asian studies at Georgetown University was not very optimistic that Burma’s military government would respond positively.

Many from the opposition groups in Burma and those in exile are also of the same opinion. But still a lot more are pinning their hope on Mr. Campbell that, somehow, this time around  he  should be able to turn the corner and make the junta more accommodative than it usually does.