Burmese Opposition Questions Gambari’s View of “Progress”

Gambari made the appeal in an  interview with Reuters news agency during a stop in India o­n his three-nation Asian tour to sound out governments o­n the Burma issue.

“The best approach is…to combine, to recognize progress where it has been made and encourage them to move further along the lines of democratization and respect for human rights,” Gambari said.

“I want to ask what progress [made by the regime] means,” was the reaction o­n Friday from Myint Thein, spokesman for Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy. “I have to say there is no progress politically.” 

Myint Thein said India, as the world’s largest democracy “as well as our neighbor,” should “encourage democratization in Burma, rather than building a good relationship between the two countries.”

Cin Sian Thang, chairman of the Zomi National Congress, also took issue with Gambari’s statement. “I see no progress toward democracy at all,” he said in a phone interview with The Irrawaddy o­n Friday.

“The military operations and human rights violations in ethnic minority areas and pro-democracy activists arbitrarily arrested by unknown people, not the authorities, backed by the regime are not progress.”

Asked whether the completion of the National Convention could be seen as “progress,” Cin Sian Thang said: “It will be progress for them [the regime], not for the people.”

During his India visit, Gambari had a “candid discussion” with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, said UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe.

First stop o­n his tour was China, where he met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo and Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai.

“China believes the situation in Myanmar [Burma] does not pose a threat to regional and international peace and stability,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Qin Gang told reporters after the meeting.

“What happens in Myanmar should be solved independently by the people in Myanmar itself.”

Gambari was in Japan o­n Friday, and was scheduled to meet senior foreign ministry officials before returning to New York.

Gambari’s former boss, ex-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, urged Asean during a visit to Malaysia o­n Friday to be “politically courageous” in promoting good governance in the region.

“All other regional organizations which started the same way of non-interference now realize that crises do not remain internal or geographically limited for long.”