Suu Kyi tells EU and China should remember rights, more important than sanctions and business
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked Western powers to observe if April's by-elections are free and fair before deciding whether to lift sanctions on Myanmar. She is running in a by-election in the rural township of Kawhmu, a poor neighbourhood in southern Rangoon Division. For her, the campaign must be as unfettered as the elections must be "free and fair".
In addition to a fraud-free election, the Nobel Prize laureate wants the release of all political prisoners and the conclusion of the reconciliation process between the central government and the country's ethnic minorities.
Suu Kyi's warnings come at a time when a delegation from the European Union is visiting the country formerly known as Burma to vet whether to provide development aid and lift a visa bans on government officials, including President Thein Sein, before reaching a decision on lifting sanctions after the upcoming 48 by-elections.
At the end of the three-day visit, EU Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs pledged new aid for the economy and direct foreign investment if the country becomes a real market economy.
He reminded his hosts that economic development will only succeed if growth benefits the entire population, and not only the ruling elites.
Piebalgs described the talks he had with Thein Sein as "warm and constructive." He also met Aung San Suu Kyi.
For her part, the opposition leader called on China to see Myanmar as more than just a place for Chinese companies to do business. She added that she hoped to see her nation work in the future to forge better ties with both Beijing and Washington.
"I hope the Chinese people are able to give us more understanding," the 66-year-old Suu Kyi said in an interview with the Guangdong-based Southern People Weekly magazine. "We hope they have in mind the future relations of the two countries' peoples, and can bear in mind this point when investing."
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