After decades of military rule and economic stagnation, Burma is beginning to institute political and economic reforms, but these are only beginning, Peter Manikas, NDI senior associate and regional director for Asia programs, said in Senate testimony April 26 before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific Affairs. The outcome is not assured, he said.  The political situation is fragile and much more needs to be done to help ensure that the democratization process continues. 

Drawing on his two recent trips to Burma – in January with a small NDI team to assess the political environment and again as part of a two-member U.S. delegation sent to witness the April 1 by-elections – Manikas discussed the areas the Burmese people and parliament will need to reform to carry on the democratic momentum, including constitutional development, establishing the rule of law, addressing ethnic conflicts and human rights abuses and developing a telecommunications network. “The challenge confronting the international community is in how to calibrate a response to the changes that are occurring,” said Manikas. “That response needs to support the reforms that are taking place and encourage further democratization, while also recognizing that the transition process is a work in progress and that the reforms to date must be expanded and sustained.”

Read the testimony»

Related:

• IRI and NDI to witness Burmese elections»
• NDI President Kenneth Wollack returns to Burma, meets again with Aung San Suu Kyi»
• Burma groups expose fraud and abuse in Nov. 7 elections»

Published April 30, 2012