Kathmandu, Jan 20: Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala has said that despite its weaknesses, democracy has no better alternative, and sooner or later, entire humanity will be governed democratically.
Mr Koirala, who was inaugurating a conference on Democracy for Burma organised jointly by l0 different international organisations including icftu/apro, the Nepal Trade Union Congress and the International Labour Organisation here today, said the 21st century will be the century of freedom, pluralism and democracy.
Mr Koirala said democrats around the world share a common concern about the flagrant violation of democracy and human rights in Burma, adding that the heroic fight that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi has been fighting deserves global applause and whole-hearted support.
He lauded the great courage and tenacity with which she has been struggling for a long time to restore democracy in her country.
Asking how long the world should be like a helpless and passive onlooker, he urged friends around the world who advocate the policy of constructive engagement with the military rule in Myanmar to put decisive perssure on it to respect and restore democracy.
However he expressed uncertainty whether after such a long time the so-called constructive engagement will be helpful or detrimental to the cause of democracy there.
Describing Myanmar as essentially a Buddhist country, he said Lord Buddha preached the middle path that is the noble path leading to democratic socialism, and hoped the government of Myanmar today will listen to the sprit of its own Buddhist tradition, and let its people prosper according to their own individual genius.
Mr Koirala also referred to the historical ties going back to the late 1940s that Nepal and the Nepali Congress have with Myanmar.
icftu-apro general secretary Noriyuki Suzuki said trade union rights cannot be achieved in Burma without genuine democracy in terms of not only the election of mps but also the rights of minorities and disadvantaged groups, the opportunity for pluralism, freedom of expression and assembly, respect for the rule of law and the accountability of public officials and politicians for their actions.
The impunity with which government officials in Burma, in particular the military, treat the civilian population as an unlimited pool of unpaid forced labourers and servants at their disposal is part of a political system built on the use of force and intimidation to deny the people of myanmar Democracy and rule of law, he said.
Nepal Trade Union Congress chairman Laxman Bahadur Basnet denounced the violation of human rights and trade union rights in Burma, adding that democracy is indispensable for the safeguarding of such rights.
General secretary of the Burmese Trade Union Maung Maung said that past movements for democracy in Burma should be pressed forward still more activley.
Participating in the three-day international conference are some 70 persons from various international organisations.