Burma's elections not free and fair, President Obama says

[Turborama]

Source: DPA (German Press Agency)

New Delhi - US President Barack Obama said Sunday's elections in military-ruled Burma would be "anything but free and fair".

An estimated 29 million people were eligible to vote in the polls, the first since May 27, 1990. The elections are seen as a scripted vote between two junta-backed political parties in the fray.

"We must remember that in some places the future of democracy is still very much in question," Obama said at a meeting with students at a college in Mumbai.

"Just to give you an example, the elections that are now being held in Burma that will be anything but free and fair based on every report that we are seeing".

"And for too long the people of Burma have been denied the right to determine their own destiny," he added.


Read more: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Burma&039;s-elections-not-free-and-fair-Obama-says-30141704.html

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http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Burma&039;s-elections-not-free-and-fair-Obama-says-30141704.html">Working Link

[PatrynXX]

1. Thank you for calling it by it's real name.

Two sided MSM tends to piss me off. Fair doesn't come into the equation at all if you call that country by the M word. (and don't let Rambo know)

[David__77]

9. It is called Myanmar actually.

Maybe it will change its name again, but for now, it's Myanmar. Some people still call Iran Persia, but there is no such country. It's mainly a transliteration issue. I guess some still refer to Beijing as "Peking," or perhaps even "Peiping."

That said, Myanmar, or even "Burma," refers to the majority ethnic group, and perhaps at some point the country will rename itself to take account of the many minority nationalities who have struggled for self-determination.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. To the democracy movement, it's still Burma

The change was recognised by the United Nations, and by countries such as France and Japan, but not by the United States and the UK.

A statement by the Foreign Office says: "Burma's democracy movement prefers the form 'Burma' because they do not accept the legitimacy of the unelected military regime to change the official name of the country. Internationally, both names are recognised."
...
Mark Farmener, of Burma Campaign UK, says: "Often you can tell where someone's sympathies lie if they use Burma or Myanmar. Myanmar is a kind of indicator of countries that are soft on the regime.

"But really it's not important. Who cares what people call the country? It's the human rights abuses that matter.

"There's not a really strong call from the democracy movement saying you should not call it Myanmar, they just challenge the legitimacy of the regime. It's probable it will carry on being called Myanmar after the regime is gone."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7013943.stm

It's a small thing, but why not show solidarity with the democracy movement over hte name? When the junta finally goes, and the people get to run the country, if they say 'use Myanmar', then we'll do it then. But why support the generals?

[David__77]

19. I don't support the ruling government.

That's for the people there to decide, as well as expatriates. Burma/Myanmar/whatever is a sad case of a proud anti-colonial movement splitting and going off the rails once it achieved power.

I do not understand the strategic perspective of the main opposition movements, however. They chose to abstain from the election, which I do understand, but, at the same time, are not actively preparing for or engaging in armed struggle, which is the only other means of fighting. And so there has been stasis since the 1988 uprising and subsequent defeat of the main communist and ethnic insurgencies in the countryside. Sanctions will not work. The solution must come from the people of the country. I wish the best of luck to them and hope national reconciliation can be achieved that respects all of the nationalities.

[Turborama]

15. I had to search quite hard to find an article using Burma in the title

And only managed to find this one at the time. All the others were saying Myanmar in their headlines, even though President Obama himself actually said Burma. That's why I stuck with this one and embedded the broken link at the bottom. ;-)

[Denninmi]

2. Burma, Florida, Ohio. Same f'in thing.

Pretty much all of America won't have free and fair elections for at least the next decade thanks to Repukes getting control of some many state governments. They will "redistrict" themselves into the maximum advantage. Gerrymandering writ large.

[txlibdem]

4. +1

The main place where Democracy is in danger is right here in the US of A.

Real patriots fight against fascism. Real patriots protect Democracy (with a capital "D"). Remember that when the time comes.

[RZM]

17. That's a pretty odd statement

The only way I can see you defending it is saying that you're excluding the places where it doesn't exist at all, meaning that it's not 'in danger' in North Korea because it would have to exist in the first place. How about at least throwing a bone to all those millions of people around the globe who have no say at all in their government while complaining that we don't have enough of one. Isn't what you're saying a bit like a middle class person complaining that they aren't rich in the midst of discussion about the poorest of the poor?

[txlibdem]

20. Had you read any of my recent posts that may have made more sense to you

Quotes, perhaps?

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. --- Albert Einstein

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong. --- Voltaire

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. --- Martin Luther King, Jr.

and, lastly...

Actually, the streets are quite safe today, it's the people on them who aren't. --- Anonymous

You seem to feel that Democracy is perfectly "safe" here in America. Interesting.

[RZM]

21. Am I supposed to be following you?

Do I have to examine your collected works before commenting on a post in any given thread?

You don't seem to be much interested at all in the state of Democracy in Burma/Myanmar. While that's your business and you don't necessarily have an obligation to express concern, my point was why not at least acknowledge that other people have it far worse than you do when turning the discussion towards the situation here in the US. I think it's nice to preface a statement about how bad Democracy is here with at least an acknowledgment that there are people who are far worse off and would love to live in a system like ours, warts and all. Seems a bit insulting in the midst of a conversation about a repressed system that you essentially say 'pshaw, the real problem is right here' when international organizations that try to objectively monitor Democracy rank Burma/Myanmar far lower than they do the US.

I think Democracy is safe here . . . or at least safe enough. I'm not naive enough to think that our system has divine protection and a guarantee that it will last forever -- and we all know there are some serious problems but yes, I do think it's safe, at least in its current form.

[txlibdem]

26. :-)

Very humorous post. Keep up the good work.

Democracy is safe in America... TODAY. Keep looking out your window for updates.

[Phlem]

25. No kidding

Cause we're the shining example of fair elections.

and B. Take care of home 1st.

-p

[Posteritatis]

12. Well, other than the fact that the Democrats were allowed to run in 2008 or this year

And that journalists were allowed to cover the election.

And that the main focal points for opposition to the previous government weren't arrested, their movements outlawed, their leadership held in prison indefinitely for unspecified crimes.

And that the government didn't threaten to retaliate against anyone who didn't vote Republican.

And that advance polls weren't counted by the party in power, the opposition forbidden to observe.

Sure, the Republicans are going to try to rig the electoral system over the next several years, but unless they do what Ridge tried to do and cancel elections altogether, the worst they could do is puppies and sunshine compared to what Burma's got.

Perspective, for most people, isn't that hard.

[RZM]

18. No it's not, not by a long shot

Why is the fact that things are not perfect here relevant to a discussion about a place where things are positively abominable?

[Posteritatis]

22. It's the exceptionalists around here

There's a lot of people convinced nothing exists abroad that doesn't exist primarily in an American context. Nobody else has any agency, nobody else has any autonomy, nobody else has it worse, because it gets in the way of that annoying "we're the evillest place in the universe all the time!" narrative. Hell, a few days ago someone dragged the Republicans into that volcano erupting in Indonesia, because we apparently can't discuss something like that outside of a US context. Argh.

You see a lot of incredibly blinkered people when it comes to foreign news in any case; witness the ignorant, deluded fools in this thread who think the US has it worse than Burma in, well, any way, never mind freedom and democratic rights.

(I expect after that, someone somewhere will want to respond to this in a way suggesting I just said the US is innocent and perfect in every way; "piss off and learn to read" would sum up any possible replies I give to that in advance.)

[RZM]

23. I agree totally

I've often said that one thing that unites many on the far left and the far right in this country is the idea that America is the center of the world and what happens here is what matters most and like you said, plenty of people refuse to see anything that happens abroad in anything but an American context. There's so much that goes on in the world that has little to do with the United States at all.

[Posteritatis]

24. I can mostly understand where it comes from

Canada has something similar, but our lack of superpower status means ours manifests in different ways. (Our attitude tends to either be dismissal as irrelevant or an instinct to blame the US, both of which annoy me a lot of the time, and both of which I think imply some pretty bad views of the rest of the world's populace.)

Both our countries are incredibly blessed geographically and it's easy to get mentally isolated from the rest of the world, on top of the physical and communications isolation we've both had to one degree or another through most of our histories.

These days I think we can both agree that we're pretty far into "should know better; have no excuse not to" territory though..

[David__77]

3. Let's focus on the elections at home, please.

The house needs to get in order here. I think it's rich that he gives Myanmar as an example of lack of democracy, rather than, say, Saudi Arabia. What about Afghanistan and its fraudulent elections? Not anything said there; no, Obama's "democracy" talk only serves US geostrategic interests rather than universal human interests. But that is nothing new from any US president.

[Mrdie]

5. Quite true

Whatever one thinks of Myanmar, the US ultimately only cares about human rights in countries it opposes. The sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s did precisely nothing for "democracy" there, but it sure crippled the country's already seriously limped economic reconstruction. US "human rights" policy pretty much amounts to the following: 1. Stay stable; 2. Open up to American markets and follow the USA. Whenever 1 is not being followed or is in danger of failing then the US adopts a "We hope everything works out and the internal situation in X country remains tenable" or whatever, like it did in Honduras after the coup. Well the coup occurred and despite initial protests (which the military defeated), Honduras is secure once more for US interests. The US promptly stopped caring.

[Hubert Flottz]

6. Who knew they had a supreme court too?

[peace13]

7. Oh to hear him say this about his own machine! n/t

[judesedit]

8. NEITHER ARE THE U.S's. Wake up, Obama. Stop playing the game

This is too important a time for that crap.

[JDPriestly]

10. And, pray tell, how does that compare with our two corporate-backed

candidates. Junta-backed, bank-backed.

Do we really get a better choice? I'm honestly beginning to wonder.

[Posteritatis]

11. LOL at people dumb enough to think US elections are anywhere near as bad as Burma's. (nt)

[countrydad58]

13. Stop worrying

about other countries O, fix this one ,instead of giving in to the Nazis here that have your balls in their pocket!

[madrchsod]

14. i noticed that many world news agencies still use Burma.

if you read a label saying made in Thailand there`s a good chance it`s made in a Burmese child labor camp set up in Thailand.

china`s red army corporations is the biggest supporter of the military thugs who run the country. yes, the same red army corporations the usa trades with.