On Saturday it is one year since Cyclone Nargis devastated the delta region in Myanmar.
At the time the ruling military junta refused to allow foreign aid into the country for two weeks despite US and French ships floating just off shore. This action (or lack of action) caused much condemnation of the regime from the rest of the world. This was only made worse by the fact that during the destruction the junta called a referendum on the constitution and claimed a 99% voter turnout - something that wouldn't even happen on the best of days. The unbelievability of this meant even more criticism was aimed a the military government.
Last term in an IR class we discussed this event and my lecturer went as far as to say that he didn't believe 'dictatorship' was a strong enough word to describe the regime in Myanmar. He called it a 'psychopathocracy' meaning a regime run by people who have a lack of empathy and compassion towards their citizens. This is seen in Myanmar throught the banning of international aid and calling a referendum in the capital which was not affected by the cyclone. I found this argument quite compelling and have been waiting for an opportunity to discuss it on this blog.
The link above goes to a NY Times article which talks about the softening of military regime. It claims that the cyclone may have "opened a breach in the political wall around Myanmar, including perhaps a new and softer line by the United States." It also suggests that the govt may not have let aid in as they underestimated the severity of the cyclone and saw it as an issue of national pride and something they could deal with alone. I question this as surely it would take a period shorter than 2 weeks to realise they were unable to deal with the disaster without the help of outsiders.
On a more positive note, the article discusses how the junta now readily accepts foreign aid, even from the West.
"Health care experts also cite the government’s efforts in actively addressing a range of public health issues, especially with bird flu and H.I.V./AIDS. And while foreigners still cannot enter the delta without permission, the number of international aid groups allowed to work in Myanmar has doubled in the past year."
Such actions, I believe, can only be a positive step. The junta now seems to be taking a role in protecting their citizens - something expected of any government. So I'm wondering what everybody thinks. With the junta opening up their country more than ever before and Hillary Clinton calling for a change to US policy towards Myanmar, are these the first tentative steps to democracy in Myanmar? Or is it to be a dictatorship or 'psychopathocracy' for the forseeable future?
This is an interesting issue. Burma is considered the second most corrupt country in the world (Transparency International). Such corruption and the fact that state agencies are badly organised both contributed to inefficient reaction to the cyclone within the country. It has other internal issues which have affected problems with the cyclone such as ethnic fighting. The fact that so many citizens are opposed to the government undermines the government’s ability to instigate its policies throughout the country. So, you can also understand how Myanmar would not want the outside world to see such weakness. Perhaps the government saw it as an opportunity to unite and help its citizens internally while creating a sense of nationalism and legitimacy for the ruling junta. Obviously, after the first unsuccessful two weeks, the government would have needed to turn to foreign help. Therefore, I dont believe we can blame the actions in those two first weeks on psychopathocracy.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, what has failed to be recognised above, is that the referendum on the new constitution also set 2010 as the year for new elections. Whether these are fair and contested or overturned like the last election in Burma, will be proven next year. However, being the first elections in nearly 20years, shows one small step being taken.
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ReplyDeleteYes its important but I think the next few years will be even more important...Countries often hold these elections or at least imply that they are "heading" towards democracy yet they some withdraw back into their old ways of dictatorship/authoitarianism... So yes good to see...but don't read too much into it...yet...because to lie about voter turnout is in and of itself odd? why would you take this step and then dismiss it or minimize it by making up an obvious lie? kinda seems odd
ReplyDeleteNote that the current junta in Myanmar is in power because they cancelled the results of an earlier election they didn't like, so the talk of democracy coming from them is fairly incredible.
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