Myanmar-Burma in 2004

Myanmar-Burma in 2004

Area: 676,577 sq km (261,228 sq mi) Population (2004 est.): 42,720,000 Capital: Yangon (Rangoon) Head of state and government: Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Gen. Than Shwe, assisted by Prime Ministers Gen. Khin Nyunt and, from October 19, Lieut. Gen. Soe Win

In 2004 Myanmar’s growing isolation and international pressure for political reform created fissures inside the military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), forcing it to consolidate its control over power and neutralize domestic and external threats. After 14 months in office, the intelligence chief and prime minister, Gen. Khin Nyunt, was sacked on October 19 and put under house arreston corruption charges. He was replaced by a hard-liner, Lieut. Gen. Soe Win.

Khin Nyunt had promoted a “road map to democracy” in UN-brokered contacts between the government and Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. The talks reached a stalemate, however, and critics accused the junta of using stalling tactics to retain its monopoly over power. Despite repeated assurances, the junta excluded the political parties from the constitutional drafting process and kept Suu Kyi under detention. Yangon also refused entry to both Kofi Annan’s special envoy for political reform in Myanmar and the UN human rights envoy for Myanmar. The junta sentenced three Burmese citizens to death for having contacted representatives of the International Labour Organization.

In 2004 the United States and the European Union imposed tough new sanctions that extended a visa blacklist for all of Myanmar’s military leaders, froze their overseas assets, and banned all commercial links. These measures had a severe impact on the garments and textiles sector. Myanmar’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations neighbours, China and India, refused to cut off commercial ties with Yangon, however. Regional trade gave the military government just enough income to maintain its hold on power. Myanmar exported nearly a billion dollars a year in natural gas—well over twice the potential windfall from trade with the U.S. or the EU. In early 2004, rice exports were banned, apparently to curb inflation. Industry continued to suffer from acute power shortages. On the positive side, opium production in Myanmar was expected to fall in 2004 by 50%, largely owing to a combination of factors such as bad weather, police crackdowns, and public-awareness campaigns. Following a last-minute compromise whereby the government agreed to send a lower-level delegation to the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Hanoi in early October, Myanmar was finally admitted into the ASEM.

Mohan Malik