Rubio, Kirk Urge Kerry To Address Burma’s Stalled Political Transition During Visit: 1.usa.gov/1nwLQi1 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) today urged Secretary of State John Kerry to address the issues challenging Burma’s democratic reform process during his upcoming visit to the country. In a letter to Kerry, Rubio and Kirk expressed concern over the Burmese government’s lack of progress toward meaningful democratic reform, including the ruling party’s opposition to key constitutional changes that would encourage a fair outcome in the 2015 elections. “The ruling party has opposed constitutional changes that would level the playing field heading into the 2015 elections, including restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi’s ability to run for president and the military’s control over key levers of authority,” the senators wrote. “The military controls access to all significant constitutional change, an arrangement that cannot be acceptable in any society that aspires to democracy.” “The government’s continued failure to stop violence at the community level and address the regional and national environments fueled by intolerance and xenophobia is unacceptable,” the senators continued. “To that end, we request that you spend at least as much time during your visit talking to civil society groups, representatives of political ethnic nationalities, and non-state armed groups as you do with government officials,” the senators added. “We also urge you to make absolutely clear to your official interlocutors that the status quo in Burma is unacceptable and that meaningful and irreversible progress on these issues is necessary to further advance our bilateral interest in normalizing relations.”
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 19:25:01 +0000
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