Burmese Generals Show Their Hand

Burmese Generals Show Their Hand

Press Release: Terry Evans

6 July 2009

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leaving Burma empty-handed, having failed to meet with imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi or win any concessions from General Than Shwe, the head of the ruling junta.

“I pressed as hard as I could,” Ban told reporters after the meeting. “I had hoped that he would agree to my request, but it is regrettable that he did not,” he said, adding that he was “deeply disappointed” with the situation.

The UN chief does not seem to grasp that Burma's hardliner generals fear Aung San Suu Kyi, whose NLD party won a convincing 82 percent of the seats in the 1990 general election. The Burmese generals refused to recognise the results, over-ruling the popular mandate of the Burmese people, and prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from forming a civilian government.

The junta is now determined to avoid a repeat of the Aung San Suu Kyi's 1990 election victory. They have pushed through a new constitution with conditions that favour the military, and they continue to detain Aung San Suu Kyi. It is expected that she will be prevented from participating in the 2010 election.

The Burmese generals have shown that they have no intention of negotiating away their hold on power.

ENDS

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