Dear Thunderbolt,

First let me thank you for your long reply. I enjoyed reading it although I may not agree with every thing you have said.

Like you I also support the dictum "Kaung thu kai, ma kaung thu pai". So who will decide who is "Kaung de" and who is "Ma Kaung Buu". Is it God, Buddha, Jesus Christ or the Internatioanal Community or the Five Precepts. (or the PEOPLE or the representatives of the PEOPLE).

Let me write down here some of the points that may be on the minds of many political observers and political activists (inside and outside the country):

1. I want Burma to have a representative form of government where the representatives are TRUE representatives of the people who vote for them. (no one, NO one must coerce the people or bribe the people to vote this way or that. The election law should state that CLEARLY). For that to happen, the Elections Commisison should be set up with the agreement of all the major political actors in the country. There may be a role for the UN and UNDP to provide necesary logistical assistance for the Elections Commission in the form of equipment and consultants (as needed).

2. The names are not important but if it is a democratic form of government, it should be based on the traditions and cultures of our country. It CANNOT be a carbon copy of any country.

3. All the registered political parties should be given a level playing field. This means that if the SPDC government wishes to transform the present USDA into a political party (many political observers already know this trend), then who will decide the rules and regulations for the use or misuse of government personnel, cars, equiptment for the political party that the ruling government (i.e. SPDC) will form in the future. In the past, the SLORC government always stated that they would remain neutral and that after the elections, the army would return to the barracks. What happened to General Saw Maung, we all know.

4. There should be Election Rules which will specify how much money can be used for political campaigns and the maxiumum amount of money that can be donated to the political parties by any individual or company. As it stands, there are many private companies which might decide to donate tons of money to the political party of the ruling government for they know that they would surely get benefits from the government. How will we solve this.

5. Should there be an Election Rule which will require all persons who stand for elections to the new Parliament to fill out a form to declare their official wealth. This can serve as a very good monitoring mechanism to make sure that all elected officials to the new Parliament stick to their promises to serve the PEOPLE and not only their self interest. This point has been a sticky point even in mature democracies like the United States of America.

The basic principles for reconciliaiton are as follows: (I did not make these up. Many learned scholars have written many books on this subject).

1. Promote trust.
2. Promote confidence.
3. Go step by step.
4. Keep the negotiations secret as long as necessary.
5. Issue joint statements on points of agreement reached.
6. Never forget the PEOPLE. Always bear in mind that all political leaders are working for the people. Trust begets trust and respect begets repsect. The PEOPLE should be informed at all phases what is going on. This involves a good Public Relations office which will not churn out one-sided propaganda but real facts and real news which the people can understand. This will help alleviate any further frustrations among the citizens of our country and all countries who are watching the developments closely. There is a big difference between PROPAGANDA and Public Relations. In true public relations, the interest of the public is first and foremost in the mind, whereas PROPAGANDA treats the people as ignorant and stupid and insults their intelligence. In any country, the mass of the citizens may be ignorant but the intelligensia is not stupid nor ignorant. In the case of Burma, the intelligensia and the intellectual classes are now in many countries of the world holding key positions where they can influence public opinion. (When the people feel that all they get is propaganda, it is natural for them to turn to other news sources to counter check. This is a normal human behaviour in any country, not only in Burma.)

7. In democratic countries, unlike in dictatorships, the governments have to closely monitor what the public opinion is. A government that does not keep a close watch on what the public is thinking risks a big uprising (as what happened in 1988 and what happened in September 2007). So it pays to keep your eyes and ears open. Public opinion is important because the electorate can bring down a democratically elected government very quickly (look what happend in Spain after the bombing of the trains.). They also have to take into account what other governments are thinking and saying (that is the job of the Foreign Officers and Foreign Service officers. If the officers cannot understand the nuance or the hidden meanings of the messages that other governments are trying to communicate, this can even lead to war. That is why during the period of the cold war, the USSR and the US had to keep a hot line to prevent a nuclear holocaust. Some times, misunderstanding of the intentions of a neighbor or a government can lead to war, or border war (as in the case of the border war between India and China a long time ago).

8. Some form of light humour always helps. They serve as escape valves for the people to let out their frustrations. Trying to close all the valves or leakages in a social system may create a situation for the volcano to erupt. Nobody wants that, I think. Some times people laugh when they cannot weep in public. That is why Reader's Digest has a special section called "Laughter the best medicine".

So the bottom line is this:

1. Create conditions that are favorable to promote TRUST and CONFIDENCE.

2. All leaders need to meet their followers. They cannot hide in their offices and hope that every thing will be fine and dandy. In the days of the ancient kings, they even have to go out at night in disguise to find out who is doing what (especially your own people who are supposed to be serving you loyally). One can never know. You can never trust a report at face value. All reports have to be counter checked to give them proper weightage.

3. Clear the air and clear the political climate. All words and printed materials that poke fun, demean or create mistrust and misunderstanding should be avoided by all major political parties during the period of transition (i.e. during the period of National Reconciliation). We are not living in a country of Arahats but normal people with flesh and blood and normal people have their own human weaknesses. Their minds can be influenced for the better or for the worse. This is what ALL leaders should remember.

4. National Reconciliation is not only the duty of the government in power but it is the duty for all citizens of Burma (present and former citizens) so that they can ALL help to create the proper climate for this National Reconciliation to happen.

Finally "My Way" was sung and made famous by Mr. Blue Eyes, Frank Sinatra.

Do you wish to communicate with me by email directly.

Just some of my thoughts for discussion.

Km