WASHINGTON—Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 1990 election in Burma in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming number of seats but the military regime refused to transfer power, six US senators condemned the regime for its past and present oppression.
Senators Mitch McConnell, Joe Lieberman, Dianne Feinstein, Judd Gregg, John McCain and Sam Brownback condemned the military regime both for its refusal to transfer power to the NLD in 1990 and its plan to hold a new election this year without the participation of the NLD and other pro-democracy forces.
“On the twentieth anniversary of this election, we reaffirm our conviction that the people of Burma deserve the freedom to choose their future for themselves,” the senators said in a joint statement.
“We condemn the continuing dictatorship imposed by the junta and call on its ruling generals to release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally, and to begin a genuine political dialogue with opposition and ethnic groups and leaders, including with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” they said.
The senators also condemned the junta's election laws, which required the NLD to expel its imprisoned members in order to register for the new election, saying that the election laws confirm that the vote the junta has promised later this year represents yet another mockery of the democratic process in Burma.
“Rather than accept the junta’s outrageous election laws, the NLD is now forced into dissolution. While we recognize that this was a painful decision for the NLD’s leaders, we applaud and honor their courage in upholding the principles that have guided their efforts since the party’s founding,” the senators said.
While the NLD may have lost its legal status in Burma, it has not lost its legitimacy in the eyes of millions of people in Burma and around the world; that is a power far beyond the reach of the junta, the senators said.
“The junta’s recent actions should prompt the President to exercise the authority provided to him by Section 5 of the 2008 Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act to impose targeted banking sanctions against the regime and its leaders,” the senators said. They also urged the Obama administration to nominate a special representative and policy coordinator to Burma, as required by US law.
Aung Din, the executive director of the US Campaign for Burma, expressed appreciation for the senators' strong and consistent support of the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi. “This is a clear message from the United States to the regime that it's showcase election will not be recognized by the international community,” he said.
“I am hoping that the senators' message will also remind the US administration to strengthen and maximize pressure on the regime, so its engagement with the regime will become more effective," Aung Din said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with MSNBC, US Sen Jim Webb offered a different perspective on US relations with Burma, arguing that the US should continue its recent policy of engagement with the military junta.
“We see a transition that the United States should be engaged in, rather than turning our back to and saying we‘re not going to talk to people simply because they politically don’t agree with us,” said Webb, who will begin a three-day visit to Burma on June 4.
“The connecting fabric in many of these situations is China not stepping up in a cooperative way, in a way that equals its emerging power in the region. Korea’s a good example of that, because China could be a major force in terms of calming things down on the Korean Peninsula. They have not yet done it. They did not do it with these meetings that Hillary Clinton had there. And China sort of views North Korea as a buffer state. They have a self-interest in not seeing a unification of Korea. And so we need to have them step up,” he said.
Webb visited Burma in August, becoming the first US senator to do so in more than ten years. He remains the only American official to meet with the country’s top leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe. He also met with imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and obtained the release of American prisoner John Yettaw.
Senators Mitch McConnell, Joe Lieberman, Dianne Feinstein, Judd Gregg, John McCain and Sam Brownback condemned the military regime both for its refusal to transfer power to the NLD in 1990 and its plan to hold a new election this year without the participation of the NLD and other pro-democracy forces.
“On the twentieth anniversary of this election, we reaffirm our conviction that the people of Burma deserve the freedom to choose their future for themselves,” the senators said in a joint statement.
“We condemn the continuing dictatorship imposed by the junta and call on its ruling generals to release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally, and to begin a genuine political dialogue with opposition and ethnic groups and leaders, including with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” they said.
The senators also condemned the junta's election laws, which required the NLD to expel its imprisoned members in order to register for the new election, saying that the election laws confirm that the vote the junta has promised later this year represents yet another mockery of the democratic process in Burma.
“Rather than accept the junta’s outrageous election laws, the NLD is now forced into dissolution. While we recognize that this was a painful decision for the NLD’s leaders, we applaud and honor their courage in upholding the principles that have guided their efforts since the party’s founding,” the senators said.
While the NLD may have lost its legal status in Burma, it has not lost its legitimacy in the eyes of millions of people in Burma and around the world; that is a power far beyond the reach of the junta, the senators said.
“The junta’s recent actions should prompt the President to exercise the authority provided to him by Section 5 of the 2008 Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE Act to impose targeted banking sanctions against the regime and its leaders,” the senators said. They also urged the Obama administration to nominate a special representative and policy coordinator to Burma, as required by US law.
Aung Din, the executive director of the US Campaign for Burma, expressed appreciation for the senators' strong and consistent support of the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi. “This is a clear message from the United States to the regime that it's showcase election will not be recognized by the international community,” he said.
“I am hoping that the senators' message will also remind the US administration to strengthen and maximize pressure on the regime, so its engagement with the regime will become more effective," Aung Din said.
Meanwhile, in an interview with MSNBC, US Sen Jim Webb offered a different perspective on US relations with Burma, arguing that the US should continue its recent policy of engagement with the military junta.
“We see a transition that the United States should be engaged in, rather than turning our back to and saying we‘re not going to talk to people simply because they politically don’t agree with us,” said Webb, who will begin a three-day visit to Burma on June 4.
“The connecting fabric in many of these situations is China not stepping up in a cooperative way, in a way that equals its emerging power in the region. Korea’s a good example of that, because China could be a major force in terms of calming things down on the Korean Peninsula. They have not yet done it. They did not do it with these meetings that Hillary Clinton had there. And China sort of views North Korea as a buffer state. They have a self-interest in not seeing a unification of Korea. And so we need to have them step up,” he said.
Webb visited Burma in August, becoming the first US senator to do so in more than ten years. He remains the only American official to meet with the country’s top leader, Snr-Gen Than Shwe. He also met with imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and obtained the release of American prisoner John Yettaw.
