Reform brings a return of the cronies | Bangkok Post: opinion
MYANMAR
Reform
brings a return of the cronies
Published: 5 Feb 2013
Myanmar has undergone dramatic
changes since the newly installed quasi-civilian government took power in 2011.
President Thein Sein admitted that the country is in bad shape in every sector
due to corruption, mismanagement and a decades-long civil war. He initiated
limited political and economic reform by engaging with political dissidents,
and opening up the economic and financial system to become realistic and
competitive.
The conventional wisdom of the
peoples of Myanmar is that such a reform process would create a level playing
field in the economy and diminish crony capitalists, who had controlled the
country's economy for more than 20 years with the help of the previous military
regime, albeit gradually. Sadly, the opposite is true.
The cronies have reinvented
themselves to fit in with the new playing field. Many of them are now members
of parliament and leaders of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party
(USDP), cabinet ministers, presidential advisers and peace brokers _ some have
even declared that they are now philanthropists.
After the United States, European
Union (EU), Canada and Australia suspended or lifted economic and trade
sanctions with the support of Aung San Suu Kyi, the wealth and business empires
of the crony capitalists have been expanding greatly with the return of foreign
investments to Myanmar and increased export opportunities to the international
community. For foreign investors, they have no choice but to work with the
cronies as they own most of the country's land, buildings, banks, factories and
other economic resources as well as having government connections.
The cronies are also now favourites
of Mrs Suu Kyi who said on Jan 9 this year: "If those so-called cronies
render assistance for social work, we agree with them and [we welcome] their
sincere contribution. Instead of spending money for useless activities, the
money can be put to good use; it is a good idea."
Her party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD), held a fund-raising music festival for its education network
on Dec 27 and 28, 2012. The event was sponsored by companies including Air
Bagan and the Asia Green Development Bank (AGD), owned by Myanmar business
tycoon Tay Za, and SkyNet, a cable company owned by Shwe Than Lwin Kyaw Win who
is under EU sanctions. Those companies donated more than US$240,000 (7.2
million baht) for the education network of the NLD, in addition to providing
the venue for the NLD's press conference. SkyNet is a business partner of Voice
of America (VOA), a US Federal Agency, which is now broadcasting its TV
programmes in Myanmar through SkyNet TV.
The Myanmar military has continued
its offensives against the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the ethnic
Kachin resistance group, in Kachin state. Despite the fact that this has
resulted human rights abuses including sexual violence and in more than one
hundred thousand refugees fleeing from and suffering great hardship in the war
zone, Aung San Suu Kyi continues to profess her love for the Myanmar military.
On Jan 28, 2013, she spoke to the
BBC saying that "It's genuine. I'm fond of the army. People don't like me
for saying that. There are many who have criticised me for being what they call
a poster girl for the army. Very flattering to be seen as a poster girl for
anything at this time of life, but I think the truth is I am very fond of the
army, because I always thought of it as my father's army."
She is not alone. The cronies love
the army just as much. On Jan 27, 2013, AGD Bank, the same bank that sponsored
the NLD's fund-raising event, proudly donated US$90,000 to soldiers from the
Myanmar army under the Northern Military Command who are fighting on the front
lines in Kachin state.
By taking money from the cronies,
defending them from public criticism and showing love for the Myanmar military,
Mrs Suu Kyi has effectively irritated ethnic populations, especially the Kachin
who have suffered enormous human rights violations by the Myanmar army in their
state. One of the Kachin community leaders, Khon Ja, recently said: "Her
[Aung San Suu Kyi's] focus is collecting awards and becoming president, rather
than the suffering of our people."
Mrs Suu Kyi's supportive view and her
friendliness toward the cronies are giving them great credibility. On Jan 24
this year, the US Department of Treasury removed U Kyaw Thein, a close business
associate of Tay Za, from its targeted sanctions list (Specially Designated
Nationals). When the Treasury announced its sanctions on Tay Zay and his
financial network back in February 2008, U Kyaw Thein, who is a permanent
resident of Singapore and director of Tay Za's companies in Singapore, was said
to be the key financial front man of Tay Za. While there are so many cronies
out there in Myanmar exploiting the lives of ordinary citizens and monopolising
the country's economy, we may see more and more cronies being freed from US
sanctions. No one else should come off the sanctions list since none of the
benchmarks outlined by President Obama have been met and the situation has
worsened since his visit to Myanmar.
Aung Din is a former political
prisoner in Myanmar and former executive director of the Washington DC-based US
Campaign for Myanmar. He now lives in the United States.
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