NDI President Kenneth Wollack Returns to Burma, Meets Again with Aung San Suu Kyi

NDI President Kenneth Wollack traveled to Burma in June to meet with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who he first met on a visit there 16 years ago. Wollack also met with other democratic leaders, including the Central Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy (NLD), along with ethnic leaders and a youth network. He also visited an HIV/AIDS center run by an NLD activist and the Free Funeral Services Society, a nongovernmental group that provides free funeral services and basic education to the poor. Aung San Suu Kyi attended the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Society last April.

In an interview, Wollack reports that little in the country has changed since the adoption of an undemocratic constitution in 2008 and sham elections last November. The military remains firmly in control, and there is no movement toward release of the more than 2,000 political prisoners or serious negotiations with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic nationalities. Still, Wollack says that Aung San Suu Kyi remains the unflappable and optimistic leader he met on his last visit in 1995 and it’s clear that her party, the NLD, is alive and rebuilding. After spending 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest, she was released in November. Aung San Suu Kyi was the recipient of NDI’s democracy award in 1996. The award was accepted on her behalf by her husband, Michael Aris, who died in 1999.

What was it like to see Aung San Suu Kyi again after all these years?

As always, it was moving just to be in her presence. She is a symbol for democracy, not only in Burma but around the world. She seemed energetic and fit, and looked much younger than her 66 years. It was very obvious from talking to her and from visiting the NLD headquarters that the party has begun to regroup and organize nationwide despite efforts by the government to destroy it.

Sixteen years ago, she talked about a sense of isolation among the Burmese people and how much demonstrations of solidarity meant to her and her party. Vaclav Havel, who had nominated Suu Kyi for the Nobel Prize, has also spoken eloquently about this concept of solidarity during Communist rule in Czechoslovakia.

What did you talk about with Aung San Suu Kyi?

She spoke about international policy toward Burma. She believes strongly in the notion of engagement – that there should be dialogue with the new government. But she does not believe that engagement means providing assistance to the government or trying to legitimize it. Engagement means speaking to the authorities about fundamental democratic principles, about releasing political prisoners, about entering into serious negotiations with the democratic forces in the country.

Burma remains the only country in the world in which the winner of an election – a decisive winner – has been denied an opportunity to assume power. And so it’s a unique situation. She has legitimacy from the people, and despite the fact of a stage-managed election 20 years later, it has done nothing to de-legitimize her standing in the country.

What did she say about her life since being released from house arrest last November?

While she can leave her home, very few fundamentals have changed. She continues to be under enormous pressure, as are her supporters. The regime uses its powers to intimidate and harass those with whom party leaders and activists meet.

One change has been the creation of new, so-called nongovernmental organizations trying to present themselves as independent of the government and the opposition. It appears, however, that their goal is to present an alternative to Aung San Suu Kyi and to create the false impression of a new openness in the country.

What struck you about being in Burma for the first time since 1995?

The regime is still very much involved in suppressing ethnic minorities throughout the country. There are still massive human rights violations in ethnic areas and large scale refugee flows into Thailand, Bangladesh and more recently China. Internally displaced populations grow as the military increases its offensive against ethnic populations. The rights violations are so severe that the UN Special Rapporteur for Burma,Tomas Ojea Quintana, has recommended the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity. Aung San Suu Kyi expresses support for Quintana’s efforts.

The constitutional changes and elections formalized the military’s hold on power through a civilian face. If you look at the official newspapers of the government, what is striking is that 16 years later the slogans and propaganda remain the same, as are the pictures of Burmese officials receiving visiting delegations from other countries. The only difference is that military leaders have traded in their uniforms for suits.

Has Aung San Suu Kyi or her outlook on Burma changed at all?

Referring to existing sanctions, she believes that policy should change only when actions on the ground warrant it. But the message she delivers is virtually the same. It’s a message of peace, reconciliation and dialogue. She also feels strongly about efforts to rebuild genuine education and public health systems in the country.

Suu Kyi has an enormous inner strength that reminds you of Nelson Mandela. The difference is that Mandela was in prison and then elected; she was elected and then imprisoned.

Did you take anything to give Aung San Suu Kyi?

The last time I met her, I asked her if there was anything I could send. She said, “Send me books on political humor, because if you lose your humor, you have lost everything.” So at the time, I sent her a few books. On this trip I brought her former Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole’s Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House; Political Humor Under Stalin: An Anthology of Unofficial Jokes and Anecdotes; and Charles Osgood’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House: Humor, Blunders, and Other Oddities from the Presidential Campaign Trail.

Who else did you meet with while you were in Burma?

I met with ethnic leaders and a new youth network, which is made up of young members of the NLD, as well as those from what’s called Generation 88 and Generation 90 and Generation 2007. These are youth leaders who were active in the democratic opposition movements of the 1980s, 1990s and as recently as four years ago during the Saffron Revolution. They are now developing their networks around the country despite many of their leaders facing harsh prison terms for their political beliefs.

Is there a next generation of strong leaders developing within the NLD?

Yes. I would say that there are probably two generations of leaders. There is the generation known as the “uncles” that has been at the executive level of the NLD. These are of the generation of Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, who was a revered independence figure before his assassination in 1947. A majority of the members of the Central Executive Committee, however, are of Aung San Suu Kyi’s generation or younger. The growing youth network will eventually play a leadership role in the party, although a number of the youth leaders remain in prison.

What else did you see in Burma?

I visited an HIV/AIDS center that is run by a young woman, Phyu Phyu Thin, who is associated with the NLD, although those who come to the facility are not necessarily NLD members or supporters. It is a very modest clinic where people stay for weeks or months while they are being treated. And they come from all over the country because of the care that they are given by Phyu Phyu Thin and her colleagues.

She, unfortunately, does not receive funds from international donor aid agencies because of her connection with the opposition, but it is extraordinary to observe the relationship between the sick and those who run the center. I met a family where the father, son and daughter of 14 months were all being treated; the mother had just died a few weeks earlier.

Can you talk about NDI’s work in support of the democratic movement in Burma?

NDI, since the time we visited 16 years ago, and others have tried to garner regional and international support for democracy in Burma, and more specifically for Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. We work with parliamentarians in the Asia region and Burmese organizations in exile to draw attention to the situation. On the border between Burma and Thailand, we train on coordination and political advocacy skills with political activists who can travel in and out of the country. Also during last November’s elections, we helped establish what was called the Burma Election Tracker – a website and mapping visual that enabled Burmese to report on the many irregularities that took place across the country.

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Published on August 5, 2011