Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Minister, has there been any progress on the so-called road map to democracy in Burma since the minister’s statement to the House last month?

Stephen Smith (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her longstanding interest in Burma and her longstanding efforts to see Burma fully embrace democracy. The member asked about any progress on Burma’s so-called road map to democracy since my statement to the House last month. Members would of course recall that part of this process included the referendum in Burma, which regrettably was conducted in the context of the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. As a consequence of that, I have previously described that referendum process as a sham.

In my statement last month, I said to the House that, whilst we had reservations about the Burmese authorities fully embracing a genuine return to democracy, we would not come to a concluded view so far as the election processes and outcome were concerned in advance of that taking place. That of course was motivated by the international community sentiment that we had to do everything we could not just by way of sanctions, for example, but also by way of encouragement to see if the authorities in Burma would embrace a genuine process.

Last week the Burmese authorities published five electoral laws which will govern the conduct of the election. Whilst in some respects it is not surprising, I very much regret to advise the House that, on the basis of the publication of these electoral laws, I have very grave reservations as to whether it is possible for an election to be conducted appropriately in Burma with the full, free and fair participation of all those concerned.

The election laws—five of them—place what seem to be very severe restrictions on political parties. In particular, by implication they place restrictions on the National League for Democracy participating in the election process, particularly if Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be a member of the National League for Democracy. There is, in addition, no guarantee of access to media for the conduct of the election.

Bearing in mind these matters, as I say, we are now very gravely concerned as to any potential for an election to be conducted in a full, free and fair manner. In the first instance, of course, it will be a matter for the political parties, in particular the National League for Democracy, to make a judgment about whether to participate in the election under those circumstances. Under the published laws, it is a matter for the NLD to make a judgment by 6 May. I am not proposing to give gratuitous public advice to the NLD. That is a matter for them to determine. It will be a very difficult decision for them to judge whether they should participate in such an election under very restrictive circumstances or whether to decline to take that opportunity.

I very much regret this development. We had in some respects hoped very much that the authorities were more completely embracing a genuine return to democracy. This is a disappointment, and we await the decision of the NLD in early May.