Suu Kyi's party calls for talks on sanctions

THE PARTY of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi wants talks with western nations with a view to easing sanctions, a sign that it is prepared to be more flexible in return for concessions by the ruling junta.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) said “a critical requirement” for loosening international sanctions was the release of all political prisoners, reckoned to number around 2,100.

“The NLD calls for discussions with the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia with a view to reaching agreement on when, how and under what circumstances sanctions might be modified in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic environment,” the party said in a statement.

The NLD also said that implementing responsible investment guidelines could help to ease economic hardships in the impoverished southeast Asian country, which is rich in resources but where one third of its 50 million people live beneath the poverty line.

Nobel laureate Ms Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest on November 13th, had long supported sanctions as a way of forcing concessions on human rights and democracy from the authoritarian military junta in the former British colony.

Some suggest the sanctions mainly hurt the Burmese people and that Burma’s neighbours, including China, India and Thailand were taking advantage of them to tap into the country’s vast resources.

Soon after she was released, Ms Suu Kyi said she might recommend that the embargoes be lifted. Her role after years under house arrest could be as a mediator between Burma’s military junta and the West, exchanging reforms for easing of the restrictions.

Her party is outside the mainstream system in Burma, which is dominated by parties connected to the military. The NLD has been officially disbanded for refusing to take part in an election on November 7th which was weighted heavily in favour of parties put up by the military junta.

The parliament, dominated by soldiers and retired officers, met for the first time last week to choose a new president, but few people believe this puppet parliament will implement any meaningful reforms.

The European Union adopted a common position on Burma in 1996, which includes a ban on selling weapons to the country.

After a crackdown on pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in September 2007, the EU targeted 1,207 Burmese firms with measures including visa bans and asset freezes.

The EU also has a visa ban and asset freezes on members of Burma’s military government and its backers.