The issues facing Burma/Myanmar today

I have been observing the political scene in our country from the sidelines since the early 90's. I have watched our people going through a mild stint of optimism and prosperity after the conversion to a market-based economy due to the devastating riots of 1988.

Despite the optimism following the 1990 elections and the economic reconfiguration, our people's condition has deteriorated. My brief analysis is certainly not an exhaustive list of all our country's issues; instead, it will serve as guidelines for my future blog posts and discussions with you all. I believe our people are currently suffering in the following ways:

Politically

• A political stalemate with neither the regime nor the opposition budging much from their position
• Lack of genuine progress towards democratization due to the stalemate
• The lack of political experience by the country’s civilians due to them being excluded from multiparty democracy for the last four decades. Where opposition civilians have attempted to practice democracy in the last four decades, this has been confrontational and uncompromising, lacking the maturity of politics seen in other democracies in Asia and beyond

Socially

• Restrictions on freedom of speech and domestic/international movement due to mistrust, misunderstanding and the regime's military mentality of asserting absolute control
• Oppression of our ethnic minorities, ranging from the teaching of ethnic languages in schools being forbidden, to the misfortune of our ethnic people being caught in the crossfire between Tatmadaw and rebel armies
• The poor quality of social services such as health and education, accounting for a disproportionately small portion of the national budget relative to military expenditure
• The poor infrastructure (transport, electricity, water, telecoms) due to lack of investment, lack of expertise, economic sanctions and the greed of contractors
• The emigration of our country's top talent abroad when our country needs all the talent it can hold on to; this is understandable as emigrants can currently attain a wealthier, freer standard of living for themselves and their families
• Increased scrutiny on our monks and their religious ceremonies they hold, due to mistrust arising from the September 2007 protests

Economically

• Widespread economic sanctions imposed by Western countries. While these have certainly impacted those the sanctions were aimed at (eg. Htoo Trading), the far greater impact has been on the numerous innocent lower-class civilians unavoidably working in such companies
• Economic mismanagement by officials with little academic or practical experience
• The entrenchment of the welfare of family businesses in economic legislation, due to the desire to protect one’s own family, greed and corruption

Legally

• The creation of arbitrary laws, sometimes at inopportune moments (eg. the import of cars and vital machinery) due to a lack of a constitutional framework on which legislation should be based
• The inconsistent enforcement of law, with high levels of corruption from a local to national level, necessitated by poor living conditions for lower level officials and greed and corruption for higher level officials
• Questionable judiciary practices particularly for trials related to state affairs (e.g. trials of political prisoners) due to a lack of independent judicial appointments, poor standards of living for judges/lawyers, and the potential repercussions from upsetting senior government officials

One underlying message is present – the current political stalemate is affecting the welfare of our people. It tarnishes our country’s image ASEAN and the international community. It weakens our country when negotiating with stronger economies such as China, India, Thailand, Singapore and to a lesser extent the West. Our people deserve to be proud and strong, the way to get there is to end the decades-long political deadlock.

My blog will tackle each of the problems above in turn. I will also analyse articles from both pro- and anti-government sources. I will respond to comments in the articles with the aim of trying to:

1. Create awareness and understanding of issues from both an anti- and pro- perspective
2. Identifying common grounds between both sides
3. Suggesting a way forward by putting the social, economic, political and legal welfare of our people first and foremost.
4. Where appropriate, identifying if and where the way forward is included in the constitution

Hope you all find this interesting reading, and as always, I invite your comments.