In what looks like it could be one of his better moves, David Cameron has come out backing democracy in Burma, a country in which political opposition and dialogue as been severely inhibited. Calling on the international community to support the current government’s move to become a democratic state, Cameron could be pinning his hat to the world’s next country wide transition to democracy.
To back this up, David Cameron has also invited long time opponent to the junta government, Aang San Suu Kyi, to visit the UK, which would be a remarkable achievement in itself as she had been under house arrest for the majority of the time since 1990 when her party won the election, but were not allowed to govern by the military generals.
Following her release from house arrest in 2010, Suu Kyi has continued with her efforts to bring true democracy to Burma and on the 1st April 2012 she won a seat in parliament. This marked the end of more than 21 years of detention and isolation and is easily the biggest sign that democracy has a viable future in Burma.
During David Cameron’s visit to South East Asia, he stopped in Burma and held a press conference with Suu Kyi in which he welcomed the changes that were happening in in the countrt having already met with the President, Thein Sien. Though he was guarded in his speech, he also called for the suspension of non-arms related trade sanctions on Burma to give additional credence to the move towards democracy in the country, saying:
“I think it is right to suspend the sanctions that there are against Burma – to suspend them, not to lift them, and obviously not to include the arms embargo. Because I do think it’s important to send a signal that we want to help see the changes that can bring the growth of freedom, of human rights and democracy in your country.”
In her response, Suu Kyi said, “It’s a great pleasure to have Prime Minister Cameron here at this time, because I think this is the right time – absolutely the right time – for him to come. As you all know, we’ve just had by-elections, and this means a step closer towards democracy. We still have a long way to go, but we believe that we can get there. I believe that President Thein Sein is genuine about democratic reforms, and I’m very happy that Prime Minister Cameron thinks that the suspension of sanctions is the right way to respond to this.
“I support the suspension rather than the lifting of sanctions, because this would be an acknowledgment of the rule of the President and other reformers. This suspension would have taken place because of the steps taken by the President and other reformers, and it would also make it quite clear to those who are against reform that, should they try to obstruct the way of the reformers, then sanctions could come back.”
Wherever you stand on Cameron’s domestic policies, his foreign approach looks like it might be linked to at least one brilliant triumph. However, there is much still to do to see Burma move towards genuine democracy, with The Committee to Protect Journalists ranking the country as the 8th highest jailer of journalists and a large number of political seats controlled exclusively by the military.
