The words of the leaders are always powerful. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese democratic leader represents the power of powerless. Powerful and Valuable words can be found in her writings, i.e. Freedom from Fear (1991, 1995), Letters from Burma (1997) and so on. On the anniversary of her 61st Birthday, I would like to recall her valuable words with the academic literature.
‘It is natural that a people who have suffered much from the consequences of bad government should be preoccupied with theories of good government’ (Aung San Suu Kyi, 1995:168)
Throughout the history, good government has served three main purposes such as
· Maintaining order (Preserving life and protecting property)
· Providing public goods and
· Promoting equality with the welfare state concept.
According to the national development stream, the World Bank (1992) defined good governance as the means in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resource for development. Leftwich identifies three stands as
(1)systematic (involves the distribution of both internal and external political and economic power)
(2)political (a state enjoying both legitimacy and authority, derived from a democratic mandate)
(3) administrative ( involves an efficient, open, accountable and audited public service which has the bureaucratic competence to help design and implement appropriate policies and manage whatever public sector there is). (Leftwich, 1993:610-611)
Furthermore, the UK’s Overseas Development Administration identified 4 components as
· The legitimacy of government, which depends on the existence of participatory processes and the consent of those who are governed;
· The accountability of both the political and official elements of government for their actions, depending on the availability of information, freedom of the media, transparency of decision-making and the existence of mechanisms to call individuals and institutions to account;
· The competence of government to formulate appropriate policies, make timely decisions, implement them effectively and deliver services;
· Respect for human rights and rule of law to guarantee individual and group rights and security to provide a framework for economic and social activity and to allow and encourage all individuals to participate. (Summarized in Truner & Hulme, 1997:231)
‘The people of Burma want not just a change of government but a change in political values. The unhappy legacies of authoritarianism can be removed only if the concept of absolute power as the basis of government is replaced by the confidence of the people in their right and ability to decide the destiny of their nation, mutual confidence between the people and their leaders and most importance of all, confidence in the principles of justice, liberty and human rights’ (Aung San Suu Kyi, 1995: 178)
People should have the rights to participate in the government decision making process by different means for the destiny of their nation. According to the procedural democratic theory, three main principles are important.
· Universal participation (everyone within the boundaries of political community should be allowed to vote)
· Political equality (all votes should be counted equally)
· Majority rule (A group should decide to do what the majority of its participants wants to do) (Goldman, 2005:35)
For a small and simple society, these principles must be met with a direct or participatory democracy (a system of government where rank-and-file citizens rule themselves rather than electing representatives to govern on their behalf). For a large society, representative democracy (a system of government where citizens elect public officials to govern on their behalf) is desirable. In this system, elected representatives should respond to public opinion so that ‘responsiveness’ has become the fourth principle of the procedural democratic theory.
Moreover, Aung San Suu Kyi mentioned to be confident in the principles of justice, liberty and human rights.
Justice refers to fair and morally defensible treatment for individuals in the light of human rights standards or standards of economic or social well-being. (Taylor & Curtis, 2005:420)
The rights to liberty set conditions on the way in which individuals interact. To implement the liberty rights of individuals, governments must protect them against incursions by other individuals. (Kelly, 1998:258)
The basic elements of human rights are not a simply matter of fundamental ideologies, norms-rules, standards and principles. In contrast, these are embedded in institutions. The core of the universal system consists of the United Nations Charter and related instruments such as the International Bill of Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Basically, human life is safer, pleasanter, and more dignified when rights are acknowledged than when they are not. (Brown, 2005:701)
It is not enough merely to call for freedom, democracy and human rights. … A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear. (Aung San Suu Kyi, 1995:183)
Aung San Suu Kyi focused on the concept of freedom from fear. Freedom (eleutheria) is the fundamental democratic ideal. Freedom can be used in two main senses: freedom of and freedom from. Freedom of refers to the absence of constraints on behavior; for example, Freedom of Worship and Freedom of Speech. Freedom from refers to immunity from. It also symbolizes the fight against exploitation and oppression in the modern political context (Berry, 2005:13). The examples include Freedom from want and Freedom from fear. As the Burmese Democratic Movement is the fight against the oppression by the military regime, she encouraged the people to be fearlessness.
In conclusion, Aung San Suu Kyi used the rightful principles and valuable words for the democratic struggle of Burma with her knowledge, skills and commitment to the struggle. May I conclude this essay with the most valuable words by Aung San Suu Kyi?
“If you ask whether we shall achieve democracy, whether there will be general elections, Here is what I shall say. Don’t think about whether or not these things will happen. Just continue to do what you believe is right. One’s responsibility is to do the right thing.” (Aung San Suu Kyi, 1995:212)
Khin Ma Ma Myo (18/6/2006)
References
Aung San Suu Kyi. (1995) Freedom from Fear, revised edition, Penguin Books, London
Brown, C. (2005) Human Rights in Baylis & Smith (eds.) (2005) Globalization, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Crick, B. (2002) Democracy: A very short introduction, Oxford University Press, University of Oxford
Ferns & Watkins (1985) What Politics is About, The Sherwood Press, London
Kelly, D. (1998) A Life of one’s own: individual rights and the welfare state, in Steiner & Alston (eds.) (2000) International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics & Morals, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Goldman, Berry & Janda (2005) The Challenge of Democracy, 8th edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, New York
Victor, B. (1998) The Lady: Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Laureate and Burma’s prisoner, Faber & Faber INC, New York