Langt de fleste burmesere har ikke nydt godt af dem, millioner lever i dyb fattigdom, landet lider under gamle etniske konflikter, det regerende parti er hærget af magtkampe og skeptikere spørger: Er reformerne andet end vinduespynt?
LONDON, 19 November 2012 (IRIN): The visit of US President Barack Obama to Burma Monday (19.11) has renewed international interest in the country’s democratic reforms, but also skepticism about their impact on the lives of ordinary Burmese.
Since Burma’s reform-minded President Thein Sein came to office in March 2011, hundreds of political prisoners have been released, freedom of assembly has been allowed, media censorship has eased, and the country’s cabinet has been reshuffled.
“Ministers regarded as conservative or underperforming were moved aside, and many new deputy ministers appointed. There are now more technocrats in these positions, and the country has its first female minister,” Jim Della-Giacoma, South East Asia project director for the International Crisis Group (ICG), told IRIN.
But analysts and observers argue that economic hardship, ongoing ethnic conflicts and a history of media censorship will prove more serious challenges to reform in this former pariah state, ruled by the military for nearly fifty years.
According to an ICG report entitled “Myanmar (Burma): Storm Clouds on the Horizon”, much of the government’s attention will need to be focused on controlling the country’s multiple internal ethnic conflicts – a real threat to national stability.
“Containing and resolving the inter-communal conflict that has engulfed Rakhine State, and reaching a ceasefire in Kachin State, are the government’s main immediate problems,” said the 12 November report.
Economic hardship
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96818/Analysis-How-real-are-Myanmar-s-reforms
