What if the remedy is in fact the ailment? This was the question raised by the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), an international NGO based in the Philippines advocating justice and democracy in military ruled Burma, after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said that the Philippines, along with its Southeast Asian neighbors would pursue its policy of “constructive engagement” with Burma.

“What if the remedy is in fact the ailment?”

This was the question raised by the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), an international NGO based in the Philippines advocating justice and democracy in military ruled Burma, after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said that the Philippines, along with its Southeast Asian neighbors would pursue its policy of “constructive engagement” with Burma.

Arroyo’s official statement came at the height of the power struggle inside the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta in Burma, that led to the ouster of Gen. Khin Nyunt as Prime Minister.

Gus Miclat, IID Executive Director said, “We would like to urge GMA to review the policy of constructive engagement with the generals in Rangoon. This policy followed by the ASEAN has failed to bring significant reforms in the lives of the peoples of Burma. Worse, this policy has encouraged the junta to impose a brutal kind of governance.”

“If only all countries follow international democratic norms. But Burma is far from being a democratic state. In fact, it has an illegitimate government that grabbed power through its armed force. Granting Burma’s government the privilege of non-intervention is unacceptable,” Miclat stressed.

Reaction to Khin Nyunt’s fall

Commenting on the ouster of Gen. Khin Nyunt, the IID Executive Director said, “That is what dictatorship is all about. No one is indispensable. Anybody could be a victim. But we expect no change. There were changes in the government but it is still a military regime that maintains injustice and dictatorship.”

“Gen. Khin Nyunt was arrested and detained for his alleged corruption activities. But look who’s talking?–the same cadres of generals who has treated Burma’s coffers as their personal purse for 43 years now,” Miclat emphasized.

IID is also campaigning for the immediate release of Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, and for a tripartite dialogue in Burma where the ethnic groups, the opposition leaders and the government will be given equal powers and status.

“As long as the military government is not committing itself in the dialogue table to draft a new democratic government that serves the interests of the majority of the people in Burma, any regime change would just become ineffective and worthless,” Miclat concluded.