Word: aung
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...current "one-country, two systems" policy, voters in Hong Kong may directly elect half of their 60 legislators, but Beijing retains the power to appoint the territory's chief executive. Lee has doggedly lobbied for greater electoral freedom for Hong Kong citizens. "Martin is for Hong Kong what Aung San Suu Kyi is for Burma, and what the Dalai Lama is for Tibet," says Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, the Washington D.C. pro-democracy organization that awarded Lee its Democracy Award in 1997. "He's the strong voice, the person who's been there such...
...might expect from one of the world's most repressive regimes, the Burmese junta's version of democracy comes with plenty of catches. First, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader who has spent more than a decade under house arrest, will be barred from the 2010 elections because of a peculiar clause in the constitutional draft that disqualifies candidates who have family members who are foreigners. (Suu Kyi's husband, who died in 1999, was English, and her two sons hold British passports.) Second, despite several mentions of the word "democracy" - albeit always attached...
...such actions against the junta. Sanctions that only heap more restrictions on Burmese exports will have no impact on the ruling generals. The junta has demonstrated that it does not care about Western opinion and has no genuine interest in dialogue. Indeed, negotiations between the generals and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, which were jump-started by the U.N. after the September protests, have stalled, and many dissidents have been rearrested. On Feb. 9 the junta said it would hold a referendum on a new constitution in May and hold a general election in 2010, but the new constitution...
...offer a glimmer of hope. On his return from a six-day visit, United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari told the Security Council on Nov. 13 that the situation in Burma was "qualitatively different" from how it was during September's brutal crackdown against Buddhist monk-led democracy protests. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate opposition leader, was allowed to meet with members of her party for the first time in three years, and released a statement saying she looked forward to "a meaningful and time-bound dialogue" with Burma's military rulers. Meanwhile, U.N. human-rights envoy Paulo...
...During times of repression, icons such as Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Burmese independence hero Aung San, can be powerful symbols of hope, and reminders of a country's golden years. But once countries become democracies, parties controlled by dynasties often abandon ideology, because they become entrenched around families who concentrate only on perpetuating themselves, shutting out outside thinkers who can germinate ideas and passion. Shinzo Abe, grandson of a former Prime Minister, spent his time in office focused on historic legacies like Japan's conduct in World War II, rather than addressing pressing challenges like how to boost...