Serve the national interest with national outlook

I have been silent on politics for long. But now, the time has arrived for me to write about the issue once more. The word “politics” has evolved together with the human civilization since the latter’s very early stage, during which city states began to emerge. Greeks and Romans called city states “Polis”, each with one city surrounded by towns and villages under its domain.

Greeks called the authority and science to administer the city states “Politikos”. Greek philosophers are the persons who discovered the political views and thoughts after studying the affairs of the city states. English has many words adopted from other European languages including Latin, Greek, French and German languages. The English adopted the Greek word “Demokratos”, an administration system tested in Greece 2600 years ago, as the word “Democracy” and another Greek word “Politikos” as the word “Politics”.

From the word “Politics”, other English words suches politician, political, political science, political thoughts, party politics, national politics, politicize, political party and polit-bureau emerged.

Early men knew how to find food and protect their body from insects and weather by wearing clothing made from leaves or animal hides. They lived in caves or places under large trees. The basic requirements for human existence are food, clothing and shelter or social needs. They with their intellectual power tried to fulfil their social needs.

In the later periods, men learnt to know how to build huts. Groups of huts became villages, and when the population grew larger, there emerged towns, and then the city state.

According to the international law, a nation must have territory, population, government and sovereignty.

Politics is the cause for the people of every nation, especially for fulfilling the public social needs. Politics covers the task of trying to enhance the social and living standards, ensuring public peace and stability and protecting the nation against alien invasion, and building a larger number of infrastructures and protecting them.

Men while enduring and overcoming vicissitudes of life are trying to ensure security and progress for their own nation with their labour and intellectual power.

The world reaches the present stage after passing through various systems and hardships. Various types and factions of democracies, socialism, communism, capitalism, liberals and conservatives have appeared later resulting from the men’s efforts to invent new ideologies in competition to one another.

At their election campaigns, the politicians asked power after introducing their ideologies to the public and assuring them to realize their goals. Since the early period of history, the policy that assures people to the self-determination to shape their own future is called national politics. The practice of asking power to serve national interest with their ideologies is called the party politics.

It will be not proper to say that party politics is bad. But it would be difficult to say that it is excellent as some political parties instead of asking power in a proper way turned to armed struggle line after the nation had regained independence. The insurgency went on for over 40 years during which the people even the patriots who took part in the independence struggle had to live in fear and instability in the nation which had rich resources and sound foundations for progress.

During the past 50 years of the post-independence period, the ruling AFPFL as well as the Revolutionary Council government had made all-out efforts to end the evil incident, which the leftists called the civil war and the successive governments of that time called internal insurgency. As the insurgents were under the influence of foreign instigation, the nation failed to restore internal peace. But now Myanmar is enjoying unprecedented development as the Tatmadaw government since its assumption of the State duties in 1988, has been striving with might and main for progress of every nook and cranny of the nation. As they have seen the progress with their own eyes, members of the 17 armed groups returned to the legal fold.

The people can now live in peace. The nation is developing to this degree despite the internal and external disturbances. Those are sound foundations for the pleasant land promising all the basic human needs. The essence of democracy is to bring peace and progress through the public force, but not to freely make disturbance, violate laws, stage strikes and hold arms and fight back the government.

Usually, western nations have more than one political party. But in those nations, mostly, two or three major parties are winning the election alternatively, while minor parties that win only a small number of seats have no part to play. The rival parties are serving the interest of the single legally permitted political system. There will be conservatives and liberals in those powers, for just one ideology or in other words “capitalism”. The western powers did have communist parties in the past. But they politicize them after announcing them unlawful.

But those powers are forcefully shaping the small nations to accept multi-party system or pluralism. The greater freedom to disagree among the different political parties and cause conflicts and disunity of the small nations will weaken them more. For the big nations, the weaker prey is easier to catch.

Myanmar is an independent and sovereign nation. It has the right to freely shape its own future for the wellbeing of the country and the people.

This right is in accordance with the international legal practice and norms, the UN charter and the Bandung principles (of more than 100 non-aligned nations). The neo-colonialist, who are in control of the media, are issuing false allegations against Myanmar in an attempt to divert the country from its path to progress so that they would be able to dominate it.

In 1988-89, a total of 235 political parties came into being. However, most of them were in no position to continue to exist and they collapsed. So, there are only ten parties left at present—eight national race parties, National League for Democracy and the National Unity Party. It is known to all the present condition of the parties—their policy, programme, ideology and membership.

The 1947 Constitution and the 1974 Constitution are defunct today. In a nation, there must be an enduring constitution framed in accordance with the wishes and in the best interest of the people. This had been acknowledged by the existing ten political parties and accordingly they agreed in 1992 and decided to convene the National Convention. Delegates of those parties including NLD attended the National Convention when it was convened on 9 January 1993. NLD representatives as well as elected representatives of NLD totalling about 100 attended the National Convention.

In 1995, however, they boycotted the National Convention following the orders of Daw Suu Kyi. According to the National Convention procedures, a delegate ceases to be a delegate if he fails to attend it for two days in succession for no reason. It may be seen as an attempt to wreck the National Convention by the elements from inside and outside the country. When plans were made to reconvene the National Convention in May 2004, the West hinted that NLD was to participate in it. NLD said it would do so. When it was permitted to attend, it declared its decision not to attend it. At present, the West says something different. It has criticised the National Convention for the exclusion of NLD. It is direct violation of Myanmar’s human rights or Myanmar’s self-determination.

I will not go into details about NLD since all have known them. Much has been reported in the news and articles. Why is the West is giving the limelight to the NLD alone although there are ten political parties in Myanmar? Are they sincere to truly see the flourishing of multi-party democracy in the country? It is food for thought that it is because they are going to install a puppet government in the country.

I will cite Myanma history. There had been numerous types of political parties, namely, rightist, capitalist democratic, liberal and conservative parties. There were also leftist socialist and communist parties as well. Regarding rightists, they had their different masters. Similarly, leftist parties, twere under the influence of certain blocs and nations. What has happened to those parties? They are not on the Myanma political stage. They are not in the hearts and minds of Myanmar people. This is a good lesson for them.

NLD today is seen to be most related to those from outside the nation. It is known to all that NLD has maintained contact through interviews with VOA and BBC. The policy and programme of NLD is described with one word, that is, democracy. In the outset, it was formed with Aung-Suu-Tin, the tripartite Aung (U Aung Gyi), Suu (Daw Suu Kyi) and Tin (U Tin Oo). Before long, the Aung group broke away from the party. The leftists (White and Red Communists) also left Daw Suu Kyi group. But Tin group remains firmly with the party. However, political analysts say that it remains so under the command of Daw Suu Kyi and influence of the external elements.

In the early stages of NLD, confrontation concept advocated by Maung Ko Yu (Red Flag) and the concept to defy all laws that they did not like as suggested in the poem of David Thoreau and supported by Maung Thawka and Hanthawady U Win Tin were in vogue. Daw Suu Kyi herself got down to different townships and followed the line of confrontation. But they had gone too far and some NLD youths ended up as fugitives outside the country. As known to all, those from outside give full support to the incidents.

Daw Suu Kyi herself had called for economic sanctions on Myanmar and demanded not to give aid to the country. Moreover, they insisted convening of the Hluttaw, attempted to incite the four nine’s incident. Their involvement in the plots to kill people and explode bombs were carried in the news.

In the news of VOA broadcast at 6 pm on 28-9-05 the US reaffirmed its support of NLD. The US State Department issued a statement on the 17th founding anniversary of NLD. In the statement, it said it would back all the people of the world working for freedom, democracy and human rights of Daw Suu Kyi and the people of Myanmar.

The US government recognizes the founding anniversary of NLD while ignoring the remaining parties although there are ten political parties in the country. Obviously, it shows that it has strong attachments to NLD.

Myanmar today does not accept the West-designed democracy which stinks of colonialism. It has reconvened the National Convention, the first step of the seven-step Road Map, in order to build a genuine and discipline-flourishing democracy. Everyone desirous of serving the national interests need to extend a helping hand most actively while discarding destructive schemes, negative outlooks and party and individual attachments.

Author : U Pyay Kyaw