Burmese diplomacy

By Telegraph View  7:32PM BST 09 Apr 2012 ... 
The road to full democracy in Burma is pitted with risk. That is why David Cameron’s visit there is so important.

David Cameron’s visit to Burma is welcome recognition of a remarkable process of political and economic liberalisation Photo: REX

David Cameron’s visit to Burma this week, the first by a Western head of government since the junta handed over to a quasi-civilian regime last year, is welcome recognition of a remarkable process of political and economic liberalisation. Released from house arrest in November 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to parliament in by-elections last week in which her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won nearly 90 per cent of the 45 seats contested. Burma’s dependence on China has been reduced, notably through the cancellation of a dam on the Irrawaddy; its currency, the kyat, is being floated against the dollar; and a law permitting foreign direct investment is expected to be passed soon.

Burma’s emergence from decades of military oppression has already led to visits by Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, and to the partial easing of sanctions. In meetings with President Thein Sein and Miss Suu Kyi on Friday, Mr Cameron will have the opportunity to give a further nudge to the liberalisation process, particularly on the political front. The NLD’s success on April 1 was spectacular, but it leaves the party with only 10 per cent of seats in a lower house where the constitution guarantees the military a quarter, and the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party is dominant. In the north, fighting has flared again between government forces and the ethnic Kachin minority.

Last week’s results suggest that the NLD could sweep the board in the general election due in 2015 and Miss Suu Kyi become president, a prospect which threatens both the military’s budget allocation and its enormous business interests. The road to full democracy is pitted with risk. That is why Mr Cameron’s presence in Burma is so important.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9194157/Burmese-diplomacy.html