Myanmar’s leader Gen. Than Shwe is genius in manipulating the world, including his junta’s vague but continuous “revelations” that the country is not very far from becoming a new nuclear power with the help of very close friend North Korea.
On Saturday, while leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) met in Yokohama, Japan, the general announced the release of pro-democracy movement icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
One rational motive is clear: Than Shwe wants Myanmar to be included in the informal trading bloc. Along with Laos and Cambodia, his country is still not allowed to join APEC because of its year-long moratorium policy since 1998. The general is eager to be seated next to US President Barack Obama and to get a broad smile from his political protégé, Chinese President Hu Jintao, at the next APEC summit.
The brutal dictator’s decision won praise from APEC leaders, including from President Obama. But the praise from Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is probably the most amusing of all comments from other world leaders, because the Thai leader knows very well the “similarities” of his government and supporters and the iron-fist ruler in Myanmar.
It would not be a surprise if President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also claims credit (with his “constructive engagement” efforts) for the release of the daughter of Myanmar’s father of independence Gen. Aung San.
I suggest that Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa politely tell our President to be more cautious in commenting on her release from years of prison and house arrest, to prevent public embarrassment in the future. The same suggestion also applies to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, although I know he has done his best in convincing Myanmar’s generals to free the opposition leader. It would be wiser for the Thai former foreign minister not to boost the role of ASEAN regarding Myanmar, again to avoid unnecessary embarrassment.
We do not need to go to the Library of Congress or to ask our pundits on Myanmar. Just Google it and you will easily understand that Gen. Than Shwe’s decision to end his enemy’s detention perhaps has nothing to do with global pressure, the outcry from international human rights organization or even calls from the UN secretary-general.
The soothsayers and fortune tellers are likely “the men behind the gun” in this case.
Gen. Than Shwe reportedly decided to move the country’s capital from Yangon to Naypyidaw in November 2005 following the advice of his fortune teller, although it is 400 kilometers away from the old capital. The late Gen. Ne Win also reportedly renamed Burma to Myanmar to fulfill the wish of his “spiritual” advisor.
Myanmar generals learned about dictatorship from Indonesian strongman Soeharto. Just look at their power structures. It was Soeharto who promoted Myanmar to join ASEAN. Fortunately or unfortunately after Soeharto’s fall in 1998, the generals continue his iron-fisted teaching. To be honest, I do not know whether Soeharto also taught his Myanmar student-generals about “spirituality”.
In Indonesia, Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is often compared to former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was once highly regarded as an icon of the anti-Soeharto movement in 1990s. She is the daughter of the country’s first president Sukarno. Soeharto’s “students” in Myanmar did not want to repeat their mentor’s mistake of not jailing Megawati. Yet for all the comparisons, history records that even after becoming president in 2001, Megawati paid little attention to Suu Kyi, the daughter of her father’s friend, Gen. Aung San.
Let us hope that the fortune tellers do not suddenly whisper in Than Swe’s ears that he should imprison the 65-year-old icon again.
ASEAN leaders need to be united to pressure Myanmar’s generals to let democracy grow in the country. But to be fair, those with the moral authority to convey the message of democracy to Than Swe’s junta are only Philippines President Benigno Aquino III and President Yudhoyono, having been elected by their people.
But back to the issue of fortune tellers and soothsayers. ASEAN leaders need to find the best witch doctors in their respective countries — or perhaps they already have their own teams — to talk with their counterparts in Myanmar. As the Myanmar generals reportedly believe strongly in astrology, President Yudhoyono needs to consider the “constructive engagement” of Indonesian dukun (shamans) in convincing the generals that the release of Suu Kyi should be final, and she should even be allowed to lead the country because her party won the 1990 democratic elections.
History would then note that soothsayers played a key role in ending the brutality of the Myanmar junta and the restoration of democracy there.
The author is a staff writer of The Jakarta Post
