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Ahead of the visit, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had sent a letter to Senior General Than Shwe with a five-point request for cooperation. However, the regime rejected all five points and treated the visiting envoy impolitely. Moreover, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan shrugged off Ban's calls for more inclusiveness in the Constitution drafting process.
The special envoy was in the country from March 6-10 and met with the ministers of information, culture and health, as well as democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, members of political parties and members of the Constitution Drafting Committee, among others. However, he was not able to meet with the key decision maker, Senior General Than Shwe.
During this visit, Gambari was rebuffed twice and accused by Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, who bluntly refused to allow foreign observers to monitor the planned referendum on the Constitution in May. He also accused Gambari of bias in favor of Suu Kyi, whom he called a stumbling block, saying she needed to give up her "confrontational attitude."
The regime's spokesperson told Gambari that the regime had done enough in trying to dialogue with Suu Kyi by appointing a ministerial level liaison officer and announcing the conditions she must meet if she ever wanted to meet Than Shwe.
Meanwhile, the regime is trying to pressure people to vote for the referendum. It has instructed the families of migrant workers in the southern Shan State to contact their family members who have gone abroad and tell them to return home to vote. The regime is threatening that if they fail to do so their names will be taken off the family census list. However, many migrants in Thailand will not be able to go home to vote as it is too costly.
There are many other incidents of authorities pressuring people to register and vote in favor of the Constitution.
The pro-democracy '88 Generation Students Group has issued a statement calling on people to vote "No" to the sham Constitution. The statement explains the Constitution was written by the military regime and is not based on real federalism, guarantees no equality or self-determination, propagates illegal principles and severely restricts freedom of expression and media.
Students, youths and monks in Moulmein, Mon State, have started distributing pamphlets opposing the referendum and encouraging people to go against the referendum without fear. The pamphlets also urge the regime to stop perpetrating violence and abusing people. The main Mon ethnic party is also not supporting the Constitution process.
A defiant and highly respected veteran journalist has called on the people of Burma to use "people power" to overthrow the military regime, knowing he could go to jail for making this remark and would not come out alive. Ludu U Sein Win is indignant that the U.N. special envoy's mission has brought nothing to the country. In a recorded message to Burmese both inside and outside the country, he said that force was the only way to end more than four decades of military rule.
"In the entire history of the world, there has never been a dictator who willingly gave up power once he had it firmly in his hands," he said. "And there are no countries in the world which have gained liberation through the help of the United Nations."
As for the military regime, it has launched a new gem auction despite calls for a boycott on gem sales from the international community after the brutal crackdown on the monk-led protests last September. The regime hoped to receive more than 3,000 foreign merchants from 20 different countries and sell off more than 100 million euros (US$153 million) worth of precious stones. China is the biggest buyer of precious stones, in particular jade, followed by Thailand.
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej made a "goodwill" visit to the Burmese generals in their capital, Naypyidawon, last Friday. He also met his counterpart, Thein Sein, in the former capital of Rangoon and talked about bilateral trade and closer economic ties. Despite urging from both Thai civil society groups and Burmese democracy forces to talk about human rights issues, the Thai government is clearly unwilling to get involved in the "internal affairs" of Burma.
Thailand now stands as the third biggest investor in Burma, reaching US$1.34 billion dollars in 2007. First is the United Kingdom, with $1.56 billion dollars and Singapore is ranked second with $1.43 billion dollars. Thailand also publicly announced that it opposed Western- imposed sanctions on Burma and would offer friendly assistance to its neighbor if Burma asks for it during the referendum in May.
China is seen as an "important player" in persuading the Burmese regime to unbolt the country's political deadlock. The U.N. special envoy visited China a number of times, asking the Beijing leadership to pressure the Burmese regime to work on national reconciliation and democracy. However, neither the people nor the regime in Burma is happy with this perception and view.
The official policy toward China is purely confined to business and trade. China pays billions of dollars to buy natural gas, while Burma is suffering chronic energy shortages. A diplomat in Rangoon commented that "the ability of China to influence the junta is way overplayed," adding it is only the generals who control everything, right down to how many cars should be imported each year.
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(Khin Ohmar is coordinator of the Asia Pacific Peoples' Partnership on Burma, based in Thailand. She can be contacted at appartnership@gmail.com. Her blog may be found at http://apppb.blogspot.com.)
