* Published: 20/11/2010 at 01:44 AM
* Online news:
WASHINGTON: Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has called US engagement with Burma a good thing, but urged US officials not to go into talks with the junta wearing "rose-coloured glasses."
"There are a lot of people who say that now that the US has decided to engage with the military regime, they have turned their back on us," Suu Kyi told CNN after being freed from years of house arrest.
"I don't think of it like that. I think engagement is a good thing," she said in the comments broadcast by the American television channel on Friday.
But she cautioned: "I don't want them to go into engagement wearing rose coloured glasses. I would want them to be practical about it."
The administration of US President Barack Obama last year initiated a dialogue with Burma after concluding that the longstanding US policy of isolating the military regime had not borne fruit.
Suu Kyi stressed Washington should be "keeping your eyes open and alert and seeing what is really going on, and where engagement is leading to and what changes really need to be brought about."
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, has been leading the dialogue, but said in September that he had been disappointed with the results so far.
Washington praised Suu Kyi's release from house arrest last Saturday, with Obama describing his fellow Nobel Peace laureate as "a hero of mine."
But the US administration also renewed its calls for Burmese authorities to release all of the country's estimated 2,100 political prisoners.
A day after her release, Suu Kyi, who had been locked up by the Burmese regime for 15 of the past 21 years, gave her first political speech in seven years, appealing to thousands of her jubilant supporters for unity.
She was released from house arrest less than a week after a controversial election that cemented the junta's decades-long grip on power but was widely criticised by democracy activists and Western leaders as a sham.
Asked by CNN whether she feared being arrested again, Suu Kyi said: "So many people ask me this question and the only thing I can say is I don't know. It's always a possibility. After all they have arrested me several times in the past.
"There's nothing to say that they won't arrest me again," she added. "But you can't keep thinking about that, you just have to keep on with your work."
CNN said it had not been officially given permission to visit Burma during the elections, but its reporter had spent 16 days in the military-run country in what they called a kind of "covert operation."
The images of the brief conversation with Suu Kyi were released on Friday when CNN's correspondent was back in Thailand.
As the daughter of the nation's assassinated independence hero Aung San, the soft-spoken 65-year-old carries a weight of expectation among her followers for a better future after almost half a century of military dictatorship.
The mother of two is also hoping that her youngest son Kim Aris, who lives in Britain, will be able travel to Rangoon.
Aris arrived in the Thai capital ahead of his mother's release but it remains unclear whether he has received a visa to enter Burma.
Suu Kyi's struggle has come at a high personal cost: her British husband died in 1999 and, in the final stages of his battle with cancer, the junta refused him a visa to see his wife. She has never met her grandchildren.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/207269/suu-kyi-warns-of-junta-tricks
Friday, 19 November 2010
Analysis: Suu Kyi release put Myanmar sanctions in spotlight
By Martin Petty
BANGKOK | Fri Nov 19, 2010 3:39pm GMT
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's re-emergence from seven years' incarceration thrusts Western sanctions back onto the agenda in Myanmar, adding a new dimension to the army-ruled country's fast-changing political landscape.
The release of the pro-democracy leader from house arrest on Saturday, six days after a much-criticized election, means she will have no official political role but could serve as a crucial go-between for the West and the country's reclusive military rulers toward reviewing sanctions.
Embargoes by the United States, Australian and European Union, intended to push the generals toward reforms, have been criticized as ineffective as long as neighbors China, Thailand and India pour investment into the country, enriching the regime.
Instead of an entrepreneurial middle class that could help clamor for change, the military and its cronies monopolize every industry, adding to a half-century of economic mismanagement in a country that was once one of Southeast Asia's most promising but where now a third of the people live in poverty, economists say.
Western multinationals sidelined by the sanctions are sizing up the vast potential of the country of 50 million people. The stakes are also high geopolitically for the United States as long as sanctions steer the country closer toward powerhouse China.
"If sanctions were lifted Myanmar would be of interest to mining, natural gas, agribusiness, tourism, financial services and telecommunications. Everything from ports to telecoms," said Douglas Clayton, a former hedge fund manager who is now chief executive and managing partner of Leopard Capital, a private equity fund specializing in frontier markets.
Clayton, who runs a $34 million fund in Cambodia backed by overseas investors, said he would quickly set up a Myanmar fund if sanctions ended and expects the investment scale would be in "billions of dollars rather than millions".
The question now is what exact role Suu Kyi will play.
"Suu Kyi's reappearance is something that will be utilized at a time when the U.S. and EU are looking for some kind of engagement," said Myanmar analyst and retired British diplomat Derek Tonkin.
"There are areas where she can play a considerable role. Suu Kyi could hold consultations with diplomats, even if the regime isn't prepared to talk to them at this stage. There are things she can do with the West that they can't do with the regime."
SANCTIONS U-TURN
Suu Kyi previously called for the sanctions but has changed her stance in recent years. She sent a letter last year to the country's paramount leader, Than Shwe, offering to help lift sanctions, but the junta dismissed her gesture as "insincere".
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, she declined to comment directly on whether she would urge the West to lift sanctions that many say hurt ordinary people by allowing the junta to monopolize the resource-rich economy.
"If people really want sanctions to be lifted, I will consider this," she said.
In secretive Myanmar, also known as Burma, no one knows if the attitude of Than Shwe and his clique of generals toward their arch enemy Suu Kyi has changed to the extent they might now see her as a means to end to their international isolation.
Some experts say sanctions benefit the regime as long as it receives economic and political support from China. Its isolation prevents international interference and investigations into its decades of gross human rights abuses.
Energy-hungry China props up the junta financially and offers it political protection by shooting down any attempts to inflict punitive action in the United Nations Security Council.
But others suggest China's support is not enough and the generals may be wary of becoming almost entirely dependent on their neighbor for their wealth and protection.
The lifelong soldiers are obsessed with security and keen to strengthen their military to fight domestic threats such as ethnic insurgencies or even an invasion by foreign forces. As long as arms embargoes are in place, their access to modern weapons technology is restricted mainly to China and Russia.
The release of the 65-year-old Oxford-educated Suu Kyi after the expiry of her sentence, which the generals described as "a pardon" might be a tactical move to get sanctions on the agenda.
"Being too close to China could be a problem in the long run and sanctions strike at the heart of this regime," said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese academic and deputy director of the Thailand-based advocacy group, the Vahu Development Institute.
DEAL WITH THE DEVIL?
"They want more investment and a modern military and their chances of this are limited. They know Aung San Suu Kyi wants sanctions lifted and by releasing her, they're hoping she will return the favor."
It is assumed Suu Kyi will pursue some kind of political role outside Myanmar's new political system, which critics say was designed to exclude her, sideline opponents and entrench military rule behind a facade of democracy.
She was conciliatory on Sunday in a speech to supporters. She called for democracy and free speech but said she felt "no antagonism" toward the regime that detained her for 15 of the past 21 years, adding she was willing to work "with anyone".
A concern is the weight of expectation on Suu Kyi and the risk of upsetting her supporters if she is seen to be cooperating with the generals. It is unlikely she can have any impact on the formation of a military-dominated parliament and a government expected to be firmly under the control of the junta.
Analysts say Suu Kyi should try to avoid agitating the generals which could, as before, lead to her re-arrest.
"She will try to play an unofficial stateswoman-like role outside the established power structure and the regime will tolerate that as long as she can help the country and doesn't step out of line," added Aung Naing Oo.
"If she does that, they'll drag her through the mud."
(Additional reporting by Jason Szep) (Editing by Robert Birsel and Miral Fahmy)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AE0ZU20101119?pageNumber=2
BANGKOK | Fri Nov 19, 2010 3:39pm GMT
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's re-emergence from seven years' incarceration thrusts Western sanctions back onto the agenda in Myanmar, adding a new dimension to the army-ruled country's fast-changing political landscape.
The release of the pro-democracy leader from house arrest on Saturday, six days after a much-criticized election, means she will have no official political role but could serve as a crucial go-between for the West and the country's reclusive military rulers toward reviewing sanctions.
Embargoes by the United States, Australian and European Union, intended to push the generals toward reforms, have been criticized as ineffective as long as neighbors China, Thailand and India pour investment into the country, enriching the regime.
Instead of an entrepreneurial middle class that could help clamor for change, the military and its cronies monopolize every industry, adding to a half-century of economic mismanagement in a country that was once one of Southeast Asia's most promising but where now a third of the people live in poverty, economists say.
Western multinationals sidelined by the sanctions are sizing up the vast potential of the country of 50 million people. The stakes are also high geopolitically for the United States as long as sanctions steer the country closer toward powerhouse China.
"If sanctions were lifted Myanmar would be of interest to mining, natural gas, agribusiness, tourism, financial services and telecommunications. Everything from ports to telecoms," said Douglas Clayton, a former hedge fund manager who is now chief executive and managing partner of Leopard Capital, a private equity fund specializing in frontier markets.
Clayton, who runs a $34 million fund in Cambodia backed by overseas investors, said he would quickly set up a Myanmar fund if sanctions ended and expects the investment scale would be in "billions of dollars rather than millions".
The question now is what exact role Suu Kyi will play.
"Suu Kyi's reappearance is something that will be utilized at a time when the U.S. and EU are looking for some kind of engagement," said Myanmar analyst and retired British diplomat Derek Tonkin.
"There are areas where she can play a considerable role. Suu Kyi could hold consultations with diplomats, even if the regime isn't prepared to talk to them at this stage. There are things she can do with the West that they can't do with the regime."
SANCTIONS U-TURN
Suu Kyi previously called for the sanctions but has changed her stance in recent years. She sent a letter last year to the country's paramount leader, Than Shwe, offering to help lift sanctions, but the junta dismissed her gesture as "insincere".
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, she declined to comment directly on whether she would urge the West to lift sanctions that many say hurt ordinary people by allowing the junta to monopolize the resource-rich economy.
"If people really want sanctions to be lifted, I will consider this," she said.
In secretive Myanmar, also known as Burma, no one knows if the attitude of Than Shwe and his clique of generals toward their arch enemy Suu Kyi has changed to the extent they might now see her as a means to end to their international isolation.
Some experts say sanctions benefit the regime as long as it receives economic and political support from China. Its isolation prevents international interference and investigations into its decades of gross human rights abuses.
Energy-hungry China props up the junta financially and offers it political protection by shooting down any attempts to inflict punitive action in the United Nations Security Council.
But others suggest China's support is not enough and the generals may be wary of becoming almost entirely dependent on their neighbor for their wealth and protection.
The lifelong soldiers are obsessed with security and keen to strengthen their military to fight domestic threats such as ethnic insurgencies or even an invasion by foreign forces. As long as arms embargoes are in place, their access to modern weapons technology is restricted mainly to China and Russia.
The release of the 65-year-old Oxford-educated Suu Kyi after the expiry of her sentence, which the generals described as "a pardon" might be a tactical move to get sanctions on the agenda.
"Being too close to China could be a problem in the long run and sanctions strike at the heart of this regime," said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese academic and deputy director of the Thailand-based advocacy group, the Vahu Development Institute.
DEAL WITH THE DEVIL?
"They want more investment and a modern military and their chances of this are limited. They know Aung San Suu Kyi wants sanctions lifted and by releasing her, they're hoping she will return the favor."
It is assumed Suu Kyi will pursue some kind of political role outside Myanmar's new political system, which critics say was designed to exclude her, sideline opponents and entrench military rule behind a facade of democracy.
She was conciliatory on Sunday in a speech to supporters. She called for democracy and free speech but said she felt "no antagonism" toward the regime that detained her for 15 of the past 21 years, adding she was willing to work "with anyone".
A concern is the weight of expectation on Suu Kyi and the risk of upsetting her supporters if she is seen to be cooperating with the generals. It is unlikely she can have any impact on the formation of a military-dominated parliament and a government expected to be firmly under the control of the junta.
Analysts say Suu Kyi should try to avoid agitating the generals which could, as before, lead to her re-arrest.
"She will try to play an unofficial stateswoman-like role outside the established power structure and the regime will tolerate that as long as she can help the country and doesn't step out of line," added Aung Naing Oo.
"If she does that, they'll drag her through the mud."
(Additional reporting by Jason Szep) (Editing by Robert Birsel and Miral Fahmy)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AE0ZU20101119?pageNumber=2
The Suu Kyi factor
Wednesday, 17 November 2010 23:46 Shwe Shwe
Rangoon (Mizzima) – The most common answer on the streets of Rangoon to the question of how soon the impact of a free Aung San Suu Kyi will be felt is “immediately”. Unfortunately, it is a response likely grounded in a moment of hope and rather irrespective of the current situation inside Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi addresses thousands outside National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon on November 14, 2010. While extensive media presence captured the events of November 13 and 14, ensuing days have seen security tightened and those still lingering in the form of Suu Kyi paparazzi placed under increasing scrutiny. Photo: Mizzima.
With the euphoria surrounding the release on Saturday of Burma’s opposition leader, followed by a gathering well into the thousands to hear her speak the following day, speculation among Rangoon observers was that the regime had possibly miscalculated in releasing the Nobel laureate.
However, the initial stages of the release having passed, the reality of the situation on the ground has readily asserted itself. While an extensive media presence, domestic and international, captured the events of November 13 and 14 – as the regime expected to happen, relaying the message of their “goodwill” to the world – ensuing days have seen security tightened, the media spotlight having moved on and those still lingering in the form of Suu Kyi paparazzi placed under increasing scrutiny.
Moreover, the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party – officially a non-existent entity – following the press conference of November 14 has exuded more the air of a provincial Nepalese medical post, with visitors of various origins freely coming and going, milling around and hoping for at least a brief visage of “Aunty” and some kind of remedy to appear from the barren cupboards.
As with the gross disparity in electoral resources witnessed by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), those of the state dominate resources at the disposal of the NLD; a single phone line, not always operational, services the party’s office needs. Accordingly, though Suu Kyi speaks of the advent of “true” democracy as depending “very much on how much support the people give us”, the elephant in the room clearly remains the Burmese security sector.
Views from the streets
In Rangoon, hardly anyone spoken to approves of the current condition of the country. A pervading apathy regarding politics, and elections specifically, is the order of the day beyond the highly politicised branches of the NLD, its splinter group, the National Democratic Force (NDF), and those basing political allegiance squarely on the dubious shoulders of identity politics.
Hushed voices, and sometimes the not so hushed, everywhere greet the visitor as to the deplorable situation Burma’s citizenry has been exposed to by the diktats of the country’s generals. The overtures can sometimes border on the absurd, such as a comment on the innate beauty of the United States flag compared with the ugly new flag of Burma which one restaurateur claims “nobody in country like”.
The people, comments one politically active professional, are not just excited about Suu Kyi, they are looking to support anything that offers a deviation from the country’s present trajectory. The feeling, he suspects, is a mixture of pro-Suu Kyi and anti-junta.
A non-voter, out of apathy, and non-attendee of Suu Kyi’s public address offers a complemental assessment. According to this businessman, it is not just about getting democracy for Burma.
The problem, he says, is that Burma’s government only looks to itself, whereas other governments, while still looking after their own interests, also look to the needs of the people. “We have no health care, no education, no insurance,” he laments.
“Any government is okay, as long as they do their best. But right now they do not,” he added. Asked if he would support the new parliament as comprised if it showed it looked to “do its best”, the answer came quickly: “Yes, of course.”
It is difficult to judge just how deep such a sentiment lies in the Burmese political body, but for many in Rangoon it remains impossible to see past the monumental personage of Suu Kyi.
An unemployed Muslim who lives near Rangoon University with his wife and four children and who was an eager onlooker during the events of Sunday in which Suu Kyi greeted her faithful, reflects a view of the opposition leader bordering on a sort of civilian messiah.
Why do you like her so much? “Because she is the daughter of our first king,” replied the wiry man with betel-stained teeth, obviously assigning the title of first king to Suu Kyi’s father, independence hero General Aung San.
While Suu Kyi would no doubt cringe at the thought of her father being considered the first monarch of a new Burmese empire, it is not a unique sentiment and an image, speaking of the lineage and not the misappropriated royal title, actively cultivated by “The Lady” and her party.
In a taxi en route to NLD headquarters, the driver inquired if I was aware that her father was a king of Burma. Meanwhile, a giant billboard depicting a portrait of Suu Kyi with her late father in military garb slightly in the background gazed upon all those in attendance on Sunday. And the inner sanctum of the NLD office is adorned with various murals depicting both father and daughter.
An infatuation with revisiting past events, specifically in this case the inauspicious assassination of Aung San and colleagues just prior to independence, continues to weave its way throughout the posturing of Suu Kyi’s party.
Despite unquestioned charisma and oratorical skills, the policies of Suu Kyi have in the past been criticised for being uncompromising to the point of frustrating gradual change. The politically active professional shares the concern, but is yet hopeful that it will not be allowed to obstruct future gains.
“I worry about that too. But, she also says she does not want a Suu Kyi dictatorship,” he affirmed, stressing that any movement forward depends both on Suu Kyi and the military-backed government.
From the streets, people in the wake of Suu Kyi’s release are yet looking … hoping, and generally form a far more politically diversified bloc than might be expected – any broad unification today would have to be said to be grounded in apathy.
By far the most challenging question posed to those consulted regarded the amount of patience people would have for Suu Kyi to demonstrate a tangible gain. That, it was said by virtually all approached, would “depend”.
Looking forward
A major factor in the potential impact of Suu Kyi on the greater Burmese political body will be her ability to travel freely throughout the country. Rangoon, despite heavily censored media, is largely aware of proceedings, but speculation is that most of the country remains largely ignorant. And, if the impact of recent happenings in Rangoon on Burma’s outlying communities is any indication, it is likely an opinion borne of realism.
Those canvassed were unanimous in their expectation that Suu Kyi’s travel beyond Rangoon would be tightly controlled. Even in Rangoon, comments one student, she is not free to do whatever she likes or speak wherever she likes. Freedom, and one look no further than the motley collection of characters at her party’s headquarters, is still a much-qualified term.
Having been largely shut out from her supporters – domestic and foreign, at home and abroad – for the last seven years, it will also be vital for Suu Kyi to recover her own voice and assert control and direction over her party and supporters. A clear and enforced policy platform regarding contentious issues would also aid in determining if dialogue with the country’s generals is possible. The multitude of voices that have insinuated to speak on her behalf must be subsumed within her true aspirations and interpretations.
As for her personal popularity and following, a sizable core of supporters, and not without good reason, can be expected to remain loyal and follow The Lady wherever she may lead. Upon leaving the festivities on Sunday, a boy in a miniature replica of the pale orange jackets worn by NLD central executive committee members walked alongside his father and, camera focused, launched his fist into the air; a clear indication that Suu Kyi, her party and politically faithful are not leaving the Burmese political scene any time soon.
However, true gains respective of Burma’s political landscape will likely only be realised with the advent of visible gains on the ground and in the lives of the Burmese people, who are ready to jump back on the “Suu Kyi bandwagon” but have grown weary of a domestic landscape void of results as epitomised by this month’s much-maligned general election.
http://www.mizzima.com/edop/analysis/4589-the-suu-kyi-factor.html
Rangoon (Mizzima) – The most common answer on the streets of Rangoon to the question of how soon the impact of a free Aung San Suu Kyi will be felt is “immediately”. Unfortunately, it is a response likely grounded in a moment of hope and rather irrespective of the current situation inside Burma.
Aung San Suu Kyi addresses thousands outside National League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon on November 14, 2010. While extensive media presence captured the events of November 13 and 14, ensuing days have seen security tightened and those still lingering in the form of Suu Kyi paparazzi placed under increasing scrutiny. Photo: Mizzima.With the euphoria surrounding the release on Saturday of Burma’s opposition leader, followed by a gathering well into the thousands to hear her speak the following day, speculation among Rangoon observers was that the regime had possibly miscalculated in releasing the Nobel laureate.
However, the initial stages of the release having passed, the reality of the situation on the ground has readily asserted itself. While an extensive media presence, domestic and international, captured the events of November 13 and 14 – as the regime expected to happen, relaying the message of their “goodwill” to the world – ensuing days have seen security tightened, the media spotlight having moved on and those still lingering in the form of Suu Kyi paparazzi placed under increasing scrutiny.
Moreover, the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party – officially a non-existent entity – following the press conference of November 14 has exuded more the air of a provincial Nepalese medical post, with visitors of various origins freely coming and going, milling around and hoping for at least a brief visage of “Aunty” and some kind of remedy to appear from the barren cupboards.
As with the gross disparity in electoral resources witnessed by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), those of the state dominate resources at the disposal of the NLD; a single phone line, not always operational, services the party’s office needs. Accordingly, though Suu Kyi speaks of the advent of “true” democracy as depending “very much on how much support the people give us”, the elephant in the room clearly remains the Burmese security sector.
Views from the streets
In Rangoon, hardly anyone spoken to approves of the current condition of the country. A pervading apathy regarding politics, and elections specifically, is the order of the day beyond the highly politicised branches of the NLD, its splinter group, the National Democratic Force (NDF), and those basing political allegiance squarely on the dubious shoulders of identity politics.
Hushed voices, and sometimes the not so hushed, everywhere greet the visitor as to the deplorable situation Burma’s citizenry has been exposed to by the diktats of the country’s generals. The overtures can sometimes border on the absurd, such as a comment on the innate beauty of the United States flag compared with the ugly new flag of Burma which one restaurateur claims “nobody in country like”.
The people, comments one politically active professional, are not just excited about Suu Kyi, they are looking to support anything that offers a deviation from the country’s present trajectory. The feeling, he suspects, is a mixture of pro-Suu Kyi and anti-junta.
A non-voter, out of apathy, and non-attendee of Suu Kyi’s public address offers a complemental assessment. According to this businessman, it is not just about getting democracy for Burma.
The problem, he says, is that Burma’s government only looks to itself, whereas other governments, while still looking after their own interests, also look to the needs of the people. “We have no health care, no education, no insurance,” he laments.
“Any government is okay, as long as they do their best. But right now they do not,” he added. Asked if he would support the new parliament as comprised if it showed it looked to “do its best”, the answer came quickly: “Yes, of course.”
It is difficult to judge just how deep such a sentiment lies in the Burmese political body, but for many in Rangoon it remains impossible to see past the monumental personage of Suu Kyi.
An unemployed Muslim who lives near Rangoon University with his wife and four children and who was an eager onlooker during the events of Sunday in which Suu Kyi greeted her faithful, reflects a view of the opposition leader bordering on a sort of civilian messiah.
Why do you like her so much? “Because she is the daughter of our first king,” replied the wiry man with betel-stained teeth, obviously assigning the title of first king to Suu Kyi’s father, independence hero General Aung San.
While Suu Kyi would no doubt cringe at the thought of her father being considered the first monarch of a new Burmese empire, it is not a unique sentiment and an image, speaking of the lineage and not the misappropriated royal title, actively cultivated by “The Lady” and her party.
In a taxi en route to NLD headquarters, the driver inquired if I was aware that her father was a king of Burma. Meanwhile, a giant billboard depicting a portrait of Suu Kyi with her late father in military garb slightly in the background gazed upon all those in attendance on Sunday. And the inner sanctum of the NLD office is adorned with various murals depicting both father and daughter.
An infatuation with revisiting past events, specifically in this case the inauspicious assassination of Aung San and colleagues just prior to independence, continues to weave its way throughout the posturing of Suu Kyi’s party.
Despite unquestioned charisma and oratorical skills, the policies of Suu Kyi have in the past been criticised for being uncompromising to the point of frustrating gradual change. The politically active professional shares the concern, but is yet hopeful that it will not be allowed to obstruct future gains.
“I worry about that too. But, she also says she does not want a Suu Kyi dictatorship,” he affirmed, stressing that any movement forward depends both on Suu Kyi and the military-backed government.
From the streets, people in the wake of Suu Kyi’s release are yet looking … hoping, and generally form a far more politically diversified bloc than might be expected – any broad unification today would have to be said to be grounded in apathy.
By far the most challenging question posed to those consulted regarded the amount of patience people would have for Suu Kyi to demonstrate a tangible gain. That, it was said by virtually all approached, would “depend”.
Looking forward
A major factor in the potential impact of Suu Kyi on the greater Burmese political body will be her ability to travel freely throughout the country. Rangoon, despite heavily censored media, is largely aware of proceedings, but speculation is that most of the country remains largely ignorant. And, if the impact of recent happenings in Rangoon on Burma’s outlying communities is any indication, it is likely an opinion borne of realism.
Those canvassed were unanimous in their expectation that Suu Kyi’s travel beyond Rangoon would be tightly controlled. Even in Rangoon, comments one student, she is not free to do whatever she likes or speak wherever she likes. Freedom, and one look no further than the motley collection of characters at her party’s headquarters, is still a much-qualified term.
Having been largely shut out from her supporters – domestic and foreign, at home and abroad – for the last seven years, it will also be vital for Suu Kyi to recover her own voice and assert control and direction over her party and supporters. A clear and enforced policy platform regarding contentious issues would also aid in determining if dialogue with the country’s generals is possible. The multitude of voices that have insinuated to speak on her behalf must be subsumed within her true aspirations and interpretations.
As for her personal popularity and following, a sizable core of supporters, and not without good reason, can be expected to remain loyal and follow The Lady wherever she may lead. Upon leaving the festivities on Sunday, a boy in a miniature replica of the pale orange jackets worn by NLD central executive committee members walked alongside his father and, camera focused, launched his fist into the air; a clear indication that Suu Kyi, her party and politically faithful are not leaving the Burmese political scene any time soon.
However, true gains respective of Burma’s political landscape will likely only be realised with the advent of visible gains on the ground and in the lives of the Burmese people, who are ready to jump back on the “Suu Kyi bandwagon” but have grown weary of a domestic landscape void of results as epitomised by this month’s much-maligned general election.
http://www.mizzima.com/edop/analysis/4589-the-suu-kyi-factor.html
UN Chief, Aung San Suu Kyi Urge Burma to Release Political Prisoners
Thursday, November 18th, 2010 at 10:15 pm UTC
The United Nations human rights committee has condemned Burma’s recent elections, saying they were not free, fair nor transparent.
The key U.N. committee approved the resolution Thursday by a vote of 96 in favor and 28 against
It also called for Burma’s military government to release all political prisoners.
Earlier Thursday, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi , who was released from house arrest Saturday, spoke by phone with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The two urged Burma’s military rulers to release all remaining political prisoners.
A U.N. statement says the two called for the release of political prisoners so all Burmese citizens can contribute to national reconciliation and a transition to democracy in Burma. Mr. Ban also told Aung San Suu Kyi he is encouraged by her appeals to Burma’s government for dialogue and compromise.
Separately, Aung San Suu Kyi said her release from house arrest should not be seen as evidence Burma’s military rulers are softening their policies.
In an interview with The Associated Press, she said her freedom came because her term of house arrest had expired and “there were no immediate means of extending it.”
Since her release, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has called for reconciliation talks with the junta leader, Than Shwe. But she told The Associated Press the government has not contacted her.
Aung San Suu Kyi also said she believes her detention was “illegal” but that she has no regrets about standing up to the junta, even though it meant spending 15 of the last 21 years under some kind of detention.
The 65-year-old democracy activist walked out of her lakeside Rangoon home Saturday at the end of her latest term of house arrest. The release came days after political parties backed by the military swept Burma’s first elections in two decades.
Western leaders and human rights activists said last Sunday’s vote was neither fair nor free and an effort by Burma’s military to put a civilian face on its continued rule.
The election results show that the military’s political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won a large majority of the districts.
Some information in this story was provided by AFP and Reuters.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2010/11/18/un-chief-aung-san-suu-kyi-urge-burma-to-release-political-prisoners-2/
The United Nations human rights committee has condemned Burma’s recent elections, saying they were not free, fair nor transparent.
The key U.N. committee approved the resolution Thursday by a vote of 96 in favor and 28 against
It also called for Burma’s military government to release all political prisoners.
Earlier Thursday, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi , who was released from house arrest Saturday, spoke by phone with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The two urged Burma’s military rulers to release all remaining political prisoners.
A U.N. statement says the two called for the release of political prisoners so all Burmese citizens can contribute to national reconciliation and a transition to democracy in Burma. Mr. Ban also told Aung San Suu Kyi he is encouraged by her appeals to Burma’s government for dialogue and compromise.
Separately, Aung San Suu Kyi said her release from house arrest should not be seen as evidence Burma’s military rulers are softening their policies.
In an interview with The Associated Press, she said her freedom came because her term of house arrest had expired and “there were no immediate means of extending it.”
Since her release, the Nobel Peace Prize winner has called for reconciliation talks with the junta leader, Than Shwe. But she told The Associated Press the government has not contacted her.
Aung San Suu Kyi also said she believes her detention was “illegal” but that she has no regrets about standing up to the junta, even though it meant spending 15 of the last 21 years under some kind of detention.
The 65-year-old democracy activist walked out of her lakeside Rangoon home Saturday at the end of her latest term of house arrest. The release came days after political parties backed by the military swept Burma’s first elections in two decades.
Western leaders and human rights activists said last Sunday’s vote was neither fair nor free and an effort by Burma’s military to put a civilian face on its continued rule.
The election results show that the military’s political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won a large majority of the districts.
Some information in this story was provided by AFP and Reuters.
http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2010/11/18/un-chief-aung-san-suu-kyi-urge-burma-to-release-political-prisoners-2/
US House denounces Myanmar elections
Thu Nov 18, 3:07 pm ET
AFP/File – Activists hold masks supporting Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally on November 17. …
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Thursday condemned Myanmar's recent elections and said no government there can be legitimate without the participation of Democracy icon AungSan Suu Kyi.
By voice vote, lawmakers approved a symbolic resolution that "denounces the one-sided, undemocratic, and illegitimate actions" of the country's ruling junta and accused them of consolidating their power with a "flawed election."
"No government in Burma can be considered democratic or legitimate without the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League forDemocracy, and ethnic nationalities," the measure states.
The resolution also demands "the full restoration of democracy, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and internationally recognized human rights for all Burmese citizens."
The November 7 vote has been widely panned by international observers, and US President Barack Obama said the "bankrupt regime" in the country, generally referred to in Washington as Burma, had stolen the election.
The resolution also called on the junta to "begin an immediate transition" to democratic rule and the "immediate and unconditional release" of all those deemed political prisoners, and pressed the Obamaadministration "to not support or recognize the military regime's elections as legitimate."
And it pressed the administration to fully implement a 2008 US law aimed at stifling Myanmar's trade in precious stones, a key source of foreign currency.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101118/pl_afp/usmyanmarpoliticscongress_20101118200712
AFP/File – Activists hold masks supporting Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi during a rally on November 17. …WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Thursday condemned Myanmar's recent elections and said no government there can be legitimate without the participation of Democracy icon AungSan Suu Kyi.
By voice vote, lawmakers approved a symbolic resolution that "denounces the one-sided, undemocratic, and illegitimate actions" of the country's ruling junta and accused them of consolidating their power with a "flawed election."
"No government in Burma can be considered democratic or legitimate without the participation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League forDemocracy, and ethnic nationalities," the measure states.
The resolution also demands "the full restoration of democracy, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and internationally recognized human rights for all Burmese citizens."
The November 7 vote has been widely panned by international observers, and US President Barack Obama said the "bankrupt regime" in the country, generally referred to in Washington as Burma, had stolen the election.
The resolution also called on the junta to "begin an immediate transition" to democratic rule and the "immediate and unconditional release" of all those deemed political prisoners, and pressed the Obamaadministration "to not support or recognize the military regime's elections as legitimate."
And it pressed the administration to fully implement a 2008 US law aimed at stifling Myanmar's trade in precious stones, a key source of foreign currency.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101118/pl_afp/usmyanmarpoliticscongress_20101118200712
ျမန္မာ့ေရြးေကာက္ပဲြ ကုလ ႐ႈတ္ခ်
By ဗြီအိုေအ (ျမန္မာဌာန)ၾကာသပေတး, 18 ႏိုဝင္ဘာ 2010
ျမန္မာစစ္အစုိးရက ဒီလဆန္းကပဲ က်င္းပၿပီးစီးသြားတဲ့ ေရြးေကာက္ပဲြဟာ လြတ္လပ္ၿပီး တရားမွ်တမႈ မရွိသလုိ ပြင့္လင္းျမင္သာမႈ မရွိဘူးလုိ႔ ကုလသမဂၢ လူ႔အခြင့္အေရး ေကာ္မတီက ႐ႈတ္ခ်လုိက္ပါတယ္။
လူ႔အခြင့္အေရး ေကာ္မတီက ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံဆုိင္ရာ ဒီအဆုိျပဳခ်က္ကုိေတာ့ ၾကာသပေတးေန႔မွာပဲ ေထာက္ခံမဲ ၉၆ မဲ၊ ကန္႔ကြက္မဲ ၂၈ မဲနဲ႔ ဆုံးျဖတ္ခ်က္ ခ်မွတ္လုိက္တာပါ။
ဆုံးျဖတ္ခ်က္က ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံမွာ ဖမ္းဆီးထားတဲ့ ႏုိင္ငံေရး အက်ဥ္းသား ၂,၀၀၀ ေက်ာ္ကုိ ျပန္လႊတ္ေပးဖုိ႔လည္း ေတာင္းဆုိခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ၾကာသပေတးေန႔ကပဲ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံက ေနာက္ဆုံး အေျခအေနေတြနဲ႔ ပတ္သက္လုိ႔ ကုလသမဂၢရဲ႕ လုံၿခံဳေရးေကာင္စီမွာ တံခါးပိတ္ ေဆြးေႏြးမႈေတြ လုပ္ေဆာင္ခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ကုလသမဂၢ အတြင္းေရးမႉးခ်ဳပ္ရဲ႕ အထူး အႀကံေပးပုဂၢိဳလ္ ဘီေဂ်း နမ္ဘီယာက ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံက ေနာက္ဆုံး အေျခအေနေတြကုိ လုံၿခံဳေရးေကာင္စီကုိ တင္ျပၿပီး အဖဲြ႕၀င္ ႏုိင္ငံေတြၾကား ေဆြးေႏြးၾကတာ ျဖစ္ေပမဲ့ အေသးစိတ္ အခ်က္အလက္ေတြေတာ့ တိတိက်က် မသိရပါဘူး။
တခ်ိန္တည္းမွာပဲ ျမန္မာ့ဒီမုိကေရစီ ေခါင္းေဆာင္ ေဒၚေအာင္ဆန္းစုၾကည္ရဲ႕ ရဲစြမ္းသတၱိနဲ႔ ဂုဏ္သိကၡာဟာ ကမၻာတ၀န္းမွာရွိတဲ့ လူသန္းေပါင္း မ်ားစြာအတြက္ စိတ္ဓာတ္ခြန္အားေတြ ျဖစ္ေစတဲ့အတြက္ ေလးစားၾကည္ညိဳေၾကာင္း ေျပာဆုိထားတဲ့ ကုလသမဂၢ အတြင္းေရးမႉးခ်ဳပ္ ဘန္ကီမြန္း (Ban Ki-moon) က ေဒၚေအာင္ဆန္းစုၾကည္ကုိ ၾကာသပေတးေန႔မွာ တယ္လီဖုန္းကတဆင့္ တုိက္႐ုိက္ စကားေျပာဆုိခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ေႏြးေထြးတဲ့ ေဆြးေႏြးမႈေတြမွာ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံမွာ ရင္ဆုိင္ေနရတဲ့ စိန္ေခၚမႈေတြကုိ အာ႐ုံစုိက္ ေျပာဆုိခဲ့တယ္လုိ႔လည္း အတြင္းေရးမႉးခ်ဳပ္ရဲ႕ ႐ုံးက ေျပာပါတယ္။
http://www.voanews.com/burmese/news/un-myanmar-election-109062434.html
ျမန္မာစစ္အစုိးရက ဒီလဆန္းကပဲ က်င္းပၿပီးစီးသြားတဲ့ ေရြးေကာက္ပဲြဟာ လြတ္လပ္ၿပီး တရားမွ်တမႈ မရွိသလုိ ပြင့္လင္းျမင္သာမႈ မရွိဘူးလုိ႔ ကုလသမဂၢ လူ႔အခြင့္အေရး ေကာ္မတီက ႐ႈတ္ခ်လုိက္ပါတယ္။
လူ႔အခြင့္အေရး ေကာ္မတီက ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံဆုိင္ရာ ဒီအဆုိျပဳခ်က္ကုိေတာ့ ၾကာသပေတးေန႔မွာပဲ ေထာက္ခံမဲ ၉၆ မဲ၊ ကန္႔ကြက္မဲ ၂၈ မဲနဲ႔ ဆုံးျဖတ္ခ်က္ ခ်မွတ္လုိက္တာပါ။
ဆုံးျဖတ္ခ်က္က ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံမွာ ဖမ္းဆီးထားတဲ့ ႏုိင္ငံေရး အက်ဥ္းသား ၂,၀၀၀ ေက်ာ္ကုိ ျပန္လႊတ္ေပးဖုိ႔လည္း ေတာင္းဆုိခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ၾကာသပေတးေန႔ကပဲ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံက ေနာက္ဆုံး အေျခအေနေတြနဲ႔ ပတ္သက္လုိ႔ ကုလသမဂၢရဲ႕ လုံၿခံဳေရးေကာင္စီမွာ တံခါးပိတ္ ေဆြးေႏြးမႈေတြ လုပ္ေဆာင္ခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ကုလသမဂၢ အတြင္းေရးမႉးခ်ဳပ္ရဲ႕ အထူး အႀကံေပးပုဂၢိဳလ္ ဘီေဂ်း နမ္ဘီယာက ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံက ေနာက္ဆုံး အေျခအေနေတြကုိ လုံၿခံဳေရးေကာင္စီကုိ တင္ျပၿပီး အဖဲြ႕၀င္ ႏုိင္ငံေတြၾကား ေဆြးေႏြးၾကတာ ျဖစ္ေပမဲ့ အေသးစိတ္ အခ်က္အလက္ေတြေတာ့ တိတိက်က် မသိရပါဘူး။
တခ်ိန္တည္းမွာပဲ ျမန္မာ့ဒီမုိကေရစီ ေခါင္းေဆာင္ ေဒၚေအာင္ဆန္းစုၾကည္ရဲ႕ ရဲစြမ္းသတၱိနဲ႔ ဂုဏ္သိကၡာဟာ ကမၻာတ၀န္းမွာရွိတဲ့ လူသန္းေပါင္း မ်ားစြာအတြက္ စိတ္ဓာတ္ခြန္အားေတြ ျဖစ္ေစတဲ့အတြက္ ေလးစားၾကည္ညိဳေၾကာင္း ေျပာဆုိထားတဲ့ ကုလသမဂၢ အတြင္းေရးမႉးခ်ဳပ္ ဘန္ကီမြန္း (Ban Ki-moon) က ေဒၚေအာင္ဆန္းစုၾကည္ကုိ ၾကာသပေတးေန႔မွာ တယ္လီဖုန္းကတဆင့္ တုိက္႐ုိက္ စကားေျပာဆုိခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ေႏြးေထြးတဲ့ ေဆြးေႏြးမႈေတြမွာ ျမန္မာႏုိင္ငံမွာ ရင္ဆုိင္ေနရတဲ့ စိန္ေခၚမႈေတြကုိ အာ႐ုံစုိက္ ေျပာဆုိခဲ့တယ္လုိ႔လည္း အတြင္းေရးမႉးခ်ဳပ္ရဲ႕ ႐ုံးက ေျပာပါတယ္။
http://www.voanews.com/burmese/news/un-myanmar-election-109062434.html
Aung San Suu Kyi: I was both prisoner and maintenance woman
* Jack Davies in Rangoon
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 November 2010 21.19 GMT
* Article history
Burma's pro-democracy leader talks about her life in captivity, her first days of freedom and the fight ahead
Aung San Suu Kyi talks about her years under house arrest and Burma's future at the offices of her National League for Democracy in Rangoon Photograph: AP
Finally free from the clutches of Burma's ruling generals and the lonely life of house arrest they subjected her to, Aung San Suu Kyi now finds she cannot escape from herself.
At the headquarters of her currently-outlawed political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), images of her are everywhere: on posters, calendars and pamphlets, T-shirts, necklaces and earrings.
As she poses politely for photos, the Guardian asks who the golden bust behind her represents. "It's supposed to be me," she says. "I wish people wouldn't make busts or posters of me, it is a very strange thing to be looking at yourself all the time. It's not like this at my house, I promise you. I have pictures of my children."
The building is filled to overflowing; the noise of a hundred conversations reverberate off the peeling wars and concrete floors. Today, there are more people than chairs, and those left without crouch against walls.
Across the road, perched on conspicuous orange motorbikes, the government's spies are kept busy, watching her party headquarters through camera lenses and binoculars. But Aung San Suu Kyi is unconcerned about the attention from the military's special branch. They will be her companion every day she is free.
"That is for them to worry about. I can only do what I feel I need to do, what I can do for the people of Burma," she says. "They will follow me, I cannot stop that. I cannot worry."
Aung San Suu Kyi is 65, but looks 20 years younger. A hint of grey at her temples is the only physical sign of the strains of two decades spent resisting a brutal military regime. She has a piercing gaze, which rarely moves from her interrogator, and her response is deliberate when pushed about the government's overt, hostile attention. She is not frightened that she could be detained again – a fate that has befallen her for 15 of the last 21 years.
"It is not a fear, it's a possibility that I live with. I understand that is the situation, and I have to accept it. They have done it before, and it is very possible they will do it again, but it is not something I fear every day. It is my situation."
It is nearly a week since military officials came to her door at 54 University Avenue, Rangoon, and told her she was free, noting perversely, her good behaviour.
Since then, she has been almost constantly in meetings of one sort or another. Diplomats and journalists from every corner of the globe have formed a queue at the bottom of the stairs leading to her door. She has taken phone calls from presidents and prime ministers. She has met with NLD party elders to discuss strategy and legal challenges and sanctions policy.
But she has stopped too, amid the throng of admirers, to talk to people on the street, old women who claim kinship, children who have a flower for her.
She has spoken with her sons by phone every day – something she could never do before, though there is no word on when she will be allowed to see them – she has visited the high court to lodge an appeal against her party's disbanding, and visited an HIV/AIDS shelter. Everywhere she goes, she is mobbed.
She is happy, "because now I am free".
She talks candidly about her years under house arrest, saying it was "far, far easier" than the time currently being served by Burma's 2,100 political prisoners. They must be freed before any real progress will be made, she insists.
Reluctantly, she concedes that there were moments of pessimism. "Despair is not the right word, but there were times that I would worry … a lot, not so much for myself, for my situation, but for the future of the country."
But she has little time for introspection and none for self-pity. The overwhelming feeling during the last seven-and-a-half years she spent confined to her damp, two-storey home was, she says, that "there weren't enough hours in the day".
"As unbelievable as it may sound, it's true. When I tell you that I had to listen to the radio for six hours every day, that is a big chunk of time, and that was solid work, just to make sure I caught all of the Burmese programs, just so I could keep up with what was going on. Because if I missed something, there was no one to come around to tell me 'did you hear about'. I needed to keep myself informed."
She says she read, for work and pleasure, biographies and spy novels were favourites at the end of the day, and she meditated regularly. "And then there was the house to run and to maintain, there really was a lot to do."
She laughs at the ridiculous lengths the junta went to in its ad hoc imprisonment. "I was both prisoner and maintenance woman," she says, mimicking a feeble effort with a hammer.
"No one was allowed to come to fix the house. I had to fix everything that went wrong around the place. The two people I was with (her live-in maids, a mother and daughter) were completely non-mechanical and non-electrical, so I had to learn with great difficulty how to do these things."
She was not always successful. For several days following cyclone Nargis in 2008, the trio lived by candlelight.
But she is less interested in reflecting on the years of isolation than on what happens next in her country.
Internationally, Aung San Suu Kyi's release has been described as Burma's "Mandela moment", comparing it to the day in 1990 when Nelson Mandela walked free from prison in South Africa. She hopes it may one day prove so, but is wary of the comparison now.
"I think that our situation is much more difficult than South Africa's. South Africa had already made some movement towards democracy when Mandela was released. Here in Burma, we are nowhere near that. We haven't even begun."
"And I feel our case is a lot more difficult than South Africa."
South Africa's fault line was clear-cut, apartheid was based on race, she says. "Colour is something that everyone can see straight away. Here, it is less obvious who is who, because we are all Burmese. It is Burmese discriminating and oppressing Burmese.
"I have often thought everything would be much easier if all the NLD supporters were coloured purple. Then it would be obvious who is being jailed and who is being discriminated against. And the international community would be angered more easily, they could easily say 'you cannot discriminate against the purples'."
Where Burma goes from here is unclear, she says, "we are a country in limbo".
She realises the power of her freedom to the people of Burma, though she is always conscious that there are many others in her movement, and thousands still in prison. "I don't believe in one person's influence and authority to move a country forward. I am honoured by the trust people have in me, but one person alone can not bring democracy to a country.
"Change is going to come from the people. I want to play my role … I want to work in unison with the people of Burma, but it is they who will change this country."
Jack Davies is a Guardian reporter writing under a pseudonym
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/18/aung-san-suu-kyi-burma-interview
* guardian.co.uk, Thursday 18 November 2010 21.19 GMT
* Article history
Burma's pro-democracy leader talks about her life in captivity, her first days of freedom and the fight ahead
Aung San Suu Kyi talks about her years under house arrest and Burma's future at the offices of her National League for Democracy in Rangoon Photograph: APFinally free from the clutches of Burma's ruling generals and the lonely life of house arrest they subjected her to, Aung San Suu Kyi now finds she cannot escape from herself.
At the headquarters of her currently-outlawed political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), images of her are everywhere: on posters, calendars and pamphlets, T-shirts, necklaces and earrings.
As she poses politely for photos, the Guardian asks who the golden bust behind her represents. "It's supposed to be me," she says. "I wish people wouldn't make busts or posters of me, it is a very strange thing to be looking at yourself all the time. It's not like this at my house, I promise you. I have pictures of my children."
The building is filled to overflowing; the noise of a hundred conversations reverberate off the peeling wars and concrete floors. Today, there are more people than chairs, and those left without crouch against walls.
Across the road, perched on conspicuous orange motorbikes, the government's spies are kept busy, watching her party headquarters through camera lenses and binoculars. But Aung San Suu Kyi is unconcerned about the attention from the military's special branch. They will be her companion every day she is free.
"That is for them to worry about. I can only do what I feel I need to do, what I can do for the people of Burma," she says. "They will follow me, I cannot stop that. I cannot worry."
Aung San Suu Kyi is 65, but looks 20 years younger. A hint of grey at her temples is the only physical sign of the strains of two decades spent resisting a brutal military regime. She has a piercing gaze, which rarely moves from her interrogator, and her response is deliberate when pushed about the government's overt, hostile attention. She is not frightened that she could be detained again – a fate that has befallen her for 15 of the last 21 years.
"It is not a fear, it's a possibility that I live with. I understand that is the situation, and I have to accept it. They have done it before, and it is very possible they will do it again, but it is not something I fear every day. It is my situation."
It is nearly a week since military officials came to her door at 54 University Avenue, Rangoon, and told her she was free, noting perversely, her good behaviour.
Since then, she has been almost constantly in meetings of one sort or another. Diplomats and journalists from every corner of the globe have formed a queue at the bottom of the stairs leading to her door. She has taken phone calls from presidents and prime ministers. She has met with NLD party elders to discuss strategy and legal challenges and sanctions policy.
But she has stopped too, amid the throng of admirers, to talk to people on the street, old women who claim kinship, children who have a flower for her.
She has spoken with her sons by phone every day – something she could never do before, though there is no word on when she will be allowed to see them – she has visited the high court to lodge an appeal against her party's disbanding, and visited an HIV/AIDS shelter. Everywhere she goes, she is mobbed.
She is happy, "because now I am free".
She talks candidly about her years under house arrest, saying it was "far, far easier" than the time currently being served by Burma's 2,100 political prisoners. They must be freed before any real progress will be made, she insists.
Reluctantly, she concedes that there were moments of pessimism. "Despair is not the right word, but there were times that I would worry … a lot, not so much for myself, for my situation, but for the future of the country."
But she has little time for introspection and none for self-pity. The overwhelming feeling during the last seven-and-a-half years she spent confined to her damp, two-storey home was, she says, that "there weren't enough hours in the day".
"As unbelievable as it may sound, it's true. When I tell you that I had to listen to the radio for six hours every day, that is a big chunk of time, and that was solid work, just to make sure I caught all of the Burmese programs, just so I could keep up with what was going on. Because if I missed something, there was no one to come around to tell me 'did you hear about'. I needed to keep myself informed."
She says she read, for work and pleasure, biographies and spy novels were favourites at the end of the day, and she meditated regularly. "And then there was the house to run and to maintain, there really was a lot to do."
She laughs at the ridiculous lengths the junta went to in its ad hoc imprisonment. "I was both prisoner and maintenance woman," she says, mimicking a feeble effort with a hammer.
"No one was allowed to come to fix the house. I had to fix everything that went wrong around the place. The two people I was with (her live-in maids, a mother and daughter) were completely non-mechanical and non-electrical, so I had to learn with great difficulty how to do these things."
She was not always successful. For several days following cyclone Nargis in 2008, the trio lived by candlelight.
But she is less interested in reflecting on the years of isolation than on what happens next in her country.
Internationally, Aung San Suu Kyi's release has been described as Burma's "Mandela moment", comparing it to the day in 1990 when Nelson Mandela walked free from prison in South Africa. She hopes it may one day prove so, but is wary of the comparison now.
"I think that our situation is much more difficult than South Africa's. South Africa had already made some movement towards democracy when Mandela was released. Here in Burma, we are nowhere near that. We haven't even begun."
"And I feel our case is a lot more difficult than South Africa."
South Africa's fault line was clear-cut, apartheid was based on race, she says. "Colour is something that everyone can see straight away. Here, it is less obvious who is who, because we are all Burmese. It is Burmese discriminating and oppressing Burmese.
"I have often thought everything would be much easier if all the NLD supporters were coloured purple. Then it would be obvious who is being jailed and who is being discriminated against. And the international community would be angered more easily, they could easily say 'you cannot discriminate against the purples'."
Where Burma goes from here is unclear, she says, "we are a country in limbo".
She realises the power of her freedom to the people of Burma, though she is always conscious that there are many others in her movement, and thousands still in prison. "I don't believe in one person's influence and authority to move a country forward. I am honoured by the trust people have in me, but one person alone can not bring democracy to a country.
"Change is going to come from the people. I want to play my role … I want to work in unison with the people of Burma, but it is they who will change this country."
Jack Davies is a Guardian reporter writing under a pseudonym
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/18/aung-san-suu-kyi-burma-interview
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