Last Sunday, in the run-up to meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the ASEAN Parliamentary Caucus was convened by House Speaker Jose de Venecia. On the table were two proposals prepared by the Filipino statesman.
Both proposals were subsequently endorsed by the Caucus.
The first proposal was the establishment of a Global Anti-disaster Fund to be administered by the UN System. Such a Fund would cut the response time of the global community when disasters such as the tsunami that struck South Asia happen.
The second proposal pertains to achieving a political settlement in Burma.
Burma has been a thorn on the ASEAN’s side. The Association has maintained a tradition of non-interference in the internal affairs of member countries. But the situation in Burma, and the strong international opinion it draws, disturbs the regional community.
At the moment, the situation in Burma is at an impasse.
The ruling military junta has imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi, the brave woman who leads the democratic opposition in the country. Because of the situation pertaining in Burma, the country has become a virtual pariah in the community of states. The admission of that country into the ASEAN was not without controversy.
The long period of iron-fisted rule in Burma has taken an immense toll on the Burmese people.
Once a robust country, rich in natural resources and gifted with leaders of great intellect, Burma has receded into the backwaters. Its economy stagnated and its people cut off from the mainstream of modern civilization.
The junta has resorted to repression to keep itself in power. It has been locked in struggle with the democratic opposition, a struggle where neither side has gained any advantage for many long years. Beyond that, the country has been nursing civil wars with minority groups seeking to secede from Rangoon’s rule.
The unseemly situation in Burma has produced a steady stream of political refugees, many stories of brutality, lingering guerrilla warfare and a prosperous drug trade presided over by warlords in the Golden Triangle.
The international community has pleaded with the Rangoon government for the release of Suu Kyi. But the junta has been fearful of the democratic challenge she represents. That regime has chosen to endure diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation in order to keep the lid of repression on the democratic opposition.
Resisting international pressures to democratize has been both a matter of political survival for the junta and a matter of misplaced national pride. They have made it a matter of national pride to keep resisting international offers for an exit formula to the present impasse.
Now, Speaker de Venecia, taking advantage of the gathering of parliamentarians in Manila, offers a formula for Burma to move out of the long impasse that is keeping a whole country in a state of suspended animation.
The De Venecia formula, hopefully backed by the rest of the ASEAN member countries, involves several stages.
The first step involves the release of Suu Kyi.
That will help relieve the condition of diplomatic isolation that Burma now endures. It will open the way for the democratic opposition to become a partner in the political settlement that will pave the way for Burma to re-enter the mainstream and be a full partner of the regional grouping.
The next stage involves the establishment of a unity government where the current leader of the junta retains the post of president. Suu Kyi assumes the post of prime minister. Senior parliamentarian Sew Win assumes the presidency of the parliament.
That arrangement would be supported by a power-sharing Cabinet that will include leading members of the democratic opposition and, if feasible, representatives of the minority communities currently engaged in a destructive civil war with the junta. The unity government will then agree on a roadmap to a democratic Burma.
About three years from the establishment of a unity government, national elections will be called to regularize a government that represents the diversity of Burmese society and the democratic will of its people. That should set the country back on the path of development, supported by assistance from the rest of the region. A new epoch of political stability should attract investments that will help the presently isolated country create wealth for its people.
This is a bold plan discussed at the caucus of ASEAN parliamentarians. But if this plan is put on the ASEAN agenda, the collective influence of Burma’s neighbors should be able to drive this plan forward.
De Venecia has already solicited the support of Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo for the country to take the initiative in putting this plan on the ASEAN agenda.
This is a good time to begin working on this plan. Next year, Burma is due to chair the Association. There is enough time to recover international goodwill by showing some real progress towards resolving internal antagonisms and building enough of a domestic constituency for a peaceful way out of this impasse.
The De Venecia formula seems to be the only sound way to assist Burma out of its present political and economic paralysis. The ASEAN is the most feasible forum for getting such an ambitious plan in motion.
It serves no one’s interest for such a great nation as Burma to remain embroiled in a lose-lose situation they now find themselves in.
It will help the ASEAN, so steeped as this association is in the dogma of non-interference, if the junta in Rangoon shows the region some indication that it is receptive to support from its neighbors to move back to the international mainstream.
Burma has everything to lose and nothing to gain by choosing isolation to reform.