Zaid to move motion in Parliament on Burma

March 15 (Malaysiakini.com) - An unprecedented motion calling on Burma to adopt certain democratic reforms will be tabled for debate in the Malaysian Parliament when it reconvenes on March 21.

MP Zaid Ibrahim (BN-Kota Baru) said he has submitted a motion on the Burmese issue in Parliament and hoped that it would be debated.

“The support for issues relating to Myanmar ( Burma) has grown, not only in Malaysia , but among other Asean parliamentarians,” Zaid who also chairs the Asean Inter-Parliamentarian Caucus on Democracy in Burma (AIPMC) told malaysiakini today.

The motion on Burma is the second to be brought up in the Malaysian Parliament, the first was during last December’s sitting. The previous motion was shunned, but support from Barisan Nasional MPs for the issue has grown since.

Added urgency

The motion received added urgency as Burma is geared to chair the regional bloc in 2006, which would mean Asean and related meetings will be held in the country under a military junta.

Burma - renamed Myanmar by the military regime - is next in line to assume the chair, which is rotated every year based on alphabetical order. It will take over from the current chair, Malaysia.

Many in Asean have shown discomfort with this prospect, especially the likely impact on ties between the regional grouping and key trading partners - the United States and European Union, both of which are critical of the military regime.

It is expected that both the US and EU would boycott Asean meetings held in Burma, thus putting an additional strain on Asean-US/EU ties. The only way out for Burma is to either adopt some democratic reforms or to decline the Asean chairmanship - something which the military junta would hate to do given the prestige the post will bring.

Zaid has spelled out some of the changes which he wants to see from Burma .

“We want them ( Burma) to fully implement all its principles in the ‘seven-point road map to democracy’. They must, as they have said they will do, release Aung San Suu Kyi and include her party in its national reconciliation programme,” said Zaid.

Tangible changes

Democracy icon Suu Kyi is currently serving her third stint in detention after being arrested for continuously advocating democracy in Burma. She is the secretary-general of the National League for Democracy (NLD), a party which won a landslide victory in Burma’s 1990 general elections but was not allowed to form the government.

The party and eight others - which make up 91 percent of the elected representatives - have also not been included in the national reconciliation process to draft a constitution.

The national convention was first convened in 1993 and critics have branded it as a ploy by the military, also known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to avoid convening Parliament after the elections.

“In the absence of these changes in Myanmar ( Burma) and true democracy practices, I believe it should not be allowed to chair Asean,” added Zaid, who is a backbencher in Parliament.

PM 'supports' call

Malaysia is among six countries represented in the AIPMC including Cambodia , Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. Burmese MPs in-exile are also involved in the Asean caucus.

“It is not just us in Malaysia who are calling for this but other Asean parliaments. The support is certainly growing,” he said, suggesting that Burma has to take heed to its neighbours’ calls.

Similar parliamentary motions are expected to be tabled in a number of Asean member nations.

Zaid however said there was no time fram

e for these changes to take effect in Burma nor a deadline for Burma to comply with the caucus’ calls. Asked if the prime minister and deputy prime minister supported their calls, he said he believed so.