Gambari Should Be Tougher on Junta: PM in Exile

By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS

Burmese Prime Minister in Exile Sein Win said on Thursday that Ibrahim Gambari, the special UN envoy on Burma, needs to be tougher on the military junta.

Sein Win said the junta leaders want to manipulate Gambari, and he has to be very careful.

"I want him to be tougher on the military," Sein Win told The Irrawaddy. He was in New York to attend a meeting of Burmese monks outside the United Nations headquarters.

"I do not want to say, he has to be replaced…but he [Gambari] has to be careful in dealing with the military. He has to have his own agenda. He has to have his own schedule," said Sein Win.

Gambari is often accused by critics of spending more time in the company of the junta than with pro-democracy leaders when he is in Burma.

While conceding that Gambari can not do much because he lacks a strong mandate from the Security Council, Sein Win said: "On the other hand, Gambari should state the facts only and not let the military manipulate him. For example, it is not in his mandate to talk about the 2010 elections. It is very sensitive matter. He should not talk about that."

The prime minister in exile said he differed with the approach taken by some pro-democracy groups who have challenged the credentials of the Burmese government representatives in the United Nations.

"This is not the good road to follow," he said, adding that his assessment was based on taking various factors into account.

"When you challenge somebody, you have to think, how much you can win, how much you can loose, what would be the consequence," he said.

Sein Win said that for various reasons, none of the neighboring countries of Burma were willing to side with the pro-democracy movement and supports them in the United Nations.

"The (credential challenge) is a very sensitive thing and many countries do not want to make a precedent," he said.