Junta warns of 'covetous' countries, Suu Kyi thanks foreigners

Tue, 04 Jan 2011

Yangon - Myanmar's junta on Tuesday used the independence day anniversary to warn of "covetous" countries bent on controlling the nation while opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi took the occasion to thank her foreign supporters.

"It is not strange (that) certain covetous, aggressive countries are anxious to gain political control over a geographically strategic country like Myanmar," military supremo Senior General Than Shwe said in a speech marking the 63rd anniversary of independence from Britain.

Meanwhile, recently freed democracy icon Suu Kyi used the same occasion to thank her supporters, including "national leaders, political leaders, Nobel peace laureates, United Nations, European Union, international amnesty organizations, people from America and Europe and our nationals from home and abroad."

Suu Kyi, the winner of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize, was released from a seven and a half years of house detention on November 13, six days after the country held it first general election in two decades.

"Successful victory for democracy is a must," Suu Kyi said in a New Year's message. "Political freedom, economy freedom and social freedom are linked together," she said. "We need to unite together to achieve those freedoms."

Than Shwe, junta chief since 1992, made no mention of political freedoms in his independence anniversary day speech.

Instead he argued that Myanmar, also called Burma, fell to Britain in three wars between 1824 to 1885 "due to a lack of a strong army."

Now Myanmar has a strong army but a weak everything else.

Ranked as South-East Asia's biggest economy in the pre-World-War II era, Myanmar is now on the list of the United Nations' least developed countries.

The country has been under military rule since 1962, when former strongman General Ne Win launched his disastrous "Burmese Way to Socialism."

Mass anti-military protests in 1988 put an end to the socialist system, but failed to install democracy.

The military cracked down on the demonstrators, killing an estimated 3,000 protesters.

It allowed an election in 1990, but then refused to pass over power to the victor - the National League for Democracy party, headed by Suu Kyi. Although the junta staged a new general election on November 7, international observers criticized it for being unfree, unfair and non-inclusive.

The polls were won by the pro-junta Union Solitary and Development Party, which is packed with ex-military men and current government ministers.

Than Shwe said the successful election was "the pride of the nation and the people."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/360614,suu-kyi-thanks-foreigners.html.