FREEDOM TO DEMOCRACY IN BURMA
The UN special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, Sunday met a group of mid-level ministers in a visit to Myanmar that so far appears to have failed to push the ruling junta into making any concessions on an upcoming vote. Twice during his trip the regime has openly rebuffed his diplomatic overtures, while he has been denied access to key decision-makers such as junta leader Than Shwe, casting real doubt on how much his mission can achieve. Gambari met Myanmar’s minister of health, minister of planning, deputy foreign minister and civil service chairman at a military guesthouse on Sunday morning, a United Nations statement said.
It gave no details on what was discussed.A government official said earlier that Gambari met the information minister, Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan, but the UN did not mention the meeting. The Nigerian diplomat was granted a rare meeting here Saturday with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. However, that was quickly overshadowed when the junta rejected his offer to send foreign observers to a planned constitutional referendum in May designed to pave the way for multi-party elections in 2010. Gambari’s visit had already run into trouble Friday when Kyaw Hsan accused him of bias in favour of Aung San Suu Kyi, and said the junta would not make any changes to the constitution, which bars her from running.
The UN envoy had been expected to leave military-run Myanmar on Sunday, but extended his trip by one day despite the setbacks. ‘His visit has been extended, so he will go back tomorrow. His schedule is always changing,’ said a government official who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. Gambari had arrived Thursday aiming to push the junta to include Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party in the referendum and elections. The constitution would bar Aung San Suu Kyi from the polls because of her marriage to a foreigner, while a new law limits the NLD’s ability to campaign by criminalising public speeches and leaflets about the referendum.
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