Myanmar general says no risk of popular uprising

October 6, 2000
Web posted at: 7:09 PM HKT (1109 GMT)

CHIANG MAI, Thailand (Reuters) -- A senior member of Myanmar's ruling military government said on Friday there was no risk of his administration being swept from power by a popular uprising like the revolt in Yugoslavia.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a regional trade meeting in Thailand, Brigadier-General David Abel denied the country had been ruined by international economic isolation and insisted that democracy would one day be restored.

"In my personal opinion there is no risk at all," Abel said when asked if he was worried there could be a Belgrade-style uprising on the streets of Yangon.

Myanmar has faced mounting international condemnation this year over its treatment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), which won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.

Suu Kyi has been confined to her home and cut off from contact since the authorities forcibly stopped her from leaving Yangon by rail last month. A bid to leave the city by car in August led to a nine-day roadside stand-off.

"MUST BE CRAZY"

Abel, minister at the office of the chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), said Suu Kyi's efforts to leave the city were publicity stunts timed to coincide with important world meetings, such as the U.N. Millennium summit.

"You must be crazy to just go and sit in a field with a tent," he said. "These roadshows are timed for world meetings. That is insignificant, but if something happens to her they would put the blame on us. So we have to be responsible."

Abel said he was unruffled by fears a planned meeting of Southeast Asian and European Union foreign ministers in Laos in December might collapse because of Europe's anger at Myanmar.

"If they are not going to come to Vientiane it's up to them."

He repeated Myanmar's opposition to ASEAN mediation in the country's political stalemate.

"This is our internal affair," he said. "Why is the world so worried about it?"

Abel said reports that Myanmar was facing rampant inflation and economic stagnation were false. He said inflation was running at seven percent and economic growth in the year to end-March was 10.9 percent, with a similar growth rate expected this year.

Most independent economists estimate Myanmar inflation at about 30 percent a year and say the country's annual economic growth is probably in the low single digits.

Abel said foreign exchange reserves were enough to last six months, but added that while this was not ideal, Myanmar was self-sufficient enough to deal with its economic difficulties and had not been badly hurt by international sanctions.

"In times of crisis we can sustain ourselves," he said.

He conceded that one problem was the exchange rate. Myanmar's official exchange rate has been pegged at around six kyat to the dollar for 36 years. The black market rate fell to record lows of around 415 to the dollar last month.

"One very big challenge is the exchange rate. Normally a currency is always realigned when the need arises, which should have been done all along," he said.

But he said Myanmar had been unable to devalue the kyat because the World Bank and International Monetary Fund had refused to provide assistance.

Abel said the country had made strong economic progress despite its problems.

"There is no poverty, there is no starvation, there's no unemployment," he said. "There is law and order, there is peace. You can walk on the streets at night. There is no problem. You cannot do that in New York. You can go anywhere you like. A lady can drive alone in her car at night from Yangon to Mandalay."

He said the government was still working on drawing up a constitution for the restoration of democracy.

"We are not power crazy. We just want peace, we want a stable country, we want the economic situation to be stable," he said. He said that while military government "might be good for the moment," the military wanted to return power to the people. But he said Yangon would not cave in to foreign pressure.

"We are not worried about what the United States thinks of us, or what the UK thinks of us," Abel said.

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