US President Barack Obama said yesterday he would send US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the first trip to Myanmar by a US secretary of state for 50 years to see if Washington could “empower” a nascent reform process.
Obama said in Indonesia that he made the decision after speaking directly for the first time with democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, adding that there were “flickers of progress” from the Myanmar government, but more needed to be done.
His announcement, ahead of an East Asia summit in Bali, was the most significant move in US policy on Myanmar in many years, after several decades of using sanctions to isolate the country because of its rule of fear.
It also came as Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) announced its return to the official political arena on Friday after years of marginalisation by military strongmen.
“Last night, I spoke to Aung San Suu Kyi directly and confirmed she supports American engagement to move this process forward,” Obama said of his telephone call with his fellow Nobel laureate from Air Force One on Thursday.
Clinton would next month “explore whether the United States can empower a positive transition in Burma,” Obama said, using the country’s former name.
“That possibility will depend on the Burmese government taking more concrete action,” Obama said. “If Burma fails to move down the path of reform it will continue to face sanctions and isolation.”
Since elections a year ago, the new nominally civilian government has surprised observers by holding direct talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, freeing 200 dissidents and freezing work on an unpopular dam.
Obama said that after “years of darkness, we have seen flickers of progress in the last several weeks.”
The president said there had been “important steps” taken by Burmese President Thein Sein, who he will encounter at today’s East Asia summit and the Burmese parliament on easing media restrictions and freeing prisoners.
“Of course, there is far more to be done. We remain concerned about Burma’s closed political system, its treatment of minorities and holding of political prisoners and its relationship with North Korea,” Obama said. “But we want to seize what could be a historic opportunity for progress making it clear that if Burma continues to travel down the road of democratic reform, it can forge a new relationship with the United States of America.”
Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday said she supported the idea of her political party re-registering to contest a series of by-elections for vacant parliamentary seats.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy, told a meeting of the NLD’s Central Executive Committee that she favored the party running in the polls, but she did not say whether she would be interested in becoming a lawmaker herself.
“In my opinion, I would like the party to re-register and to run in the by-elections in all the 48 constituencies,” she told the meeting, which was attended by reporters.
The committee has yet to reach a decision on whether to contest the by-elections. No date has been set for the polls.
The NLD boycotted last year’s controversial army-dominated election and was then officially dissolved by the authorities, but has continued to function and still enjoys strong support from the Burmese public.
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