Against Suu Kyi's words, President vows further reforms

At her first press conference following the first multi-party talk on October 31, Suu Kyi said Myanmar’s reforms are at a standstill. At the head office of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party’s chairwoman said felt there were occasions when the US government was over-optimistic about Myanmar and said the reform process came to a halt and there was no significant change in the last 24 months.

“As I said repeatedly before, being over-optimistic does not help our cause,” she added.

“The October 31 meeting was just a get-together. But it’s not a very effective one. It’s good to meet rather than not having any meeting. Its result is important. Where do we reach after that? Where does it lead us? Frankly speaking, the NLD had asked for a four-party meeting early in 2013. We remain firm on that policy. That meeting was attended by 14 participants. Just 13 sat at the table. The 14 participants, including U Ye Htut, joined the meeting. We welcome if that could lead to a four-party meeting,” she said.

She confirmed that no agreements were made during the October 31 meeting.

The meeting was top of Thein Sein’s radio programme. He mentioned differences in opinions and reactions but insisted that his intention for inviting these leaders was to find solutions, to overcome challenges facing all political forces.

“As I have stated frequently, I hope that this meeting is the start of a new political culture where we talk to each other and embrace dialogue instead of resorting confrontational approaches when trying to find solutions to overcome our common challenges,” he said.

The meeting took place before US President Barack Obama’s arrival next week and before Myanmar would welcome regional leaders to the 25th Asean Summit.

Obama will meet Suu Kyi on November 14. It was reported on Friday that while in Myanmar next week, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang will not meet Suu Kyi. 

In his radio broadcast, Thein Sein insisted that he would pursue reforms. In October, he attended the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan, Italy, “to generate further international trust for our reform process as we reintegrate back into the global community which in turn will allow us to garner greater investment and technical assistance needed for our development.”

Last weekend, he was invited to join the Dialogue on Strengthening Connectivity Partnership and APEC CEO Summit in Beijing.