21 Dec
Realizing that development is sine qua non for achieving eternal peace, the incumbent government has adopted the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan, which envisages peace and development that are all-inclusive.
The success of the MSDP, with its three pillars and five goals, relies on sufficient electrification and smooth transportation.
But, at the same time, we need to understand that achieving eternal peace, which can quench the fires of more than seven decades of armed conflicts, is more important than electrification.
To ensure peace, stability, and development in Rakhine State, the Union Government formed the Central Committee for the Implementation of Peace and Development in Rakhine State, with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as its chairperson, two months after coming to power in 2016.
Benefits notwithstanding, only a region which has peace and stability can attract local and foreign investors. So, we must all keep in mind how important regional stability is for investment and development.
Faulty policies and weak management across successive governments have delayed development, and if armed conflicts continue and regional stability is not achieved then, never mind development, local residents will be too busy struggling to survive.
“Use of force and weapons is not bravery. Real bravery is the zeal and perseverance employed to reach your objectives, without resorting to violence. If you need weapons to be brave then remember that means you are nothing when you lose that weapon,” said the State Counsellor at the opening ceremony of the Manaung solar power plant on Thursday.
The resolution to the country’s long-running armed conflicts is a federal system that is acceptable to all. Our goal is, therefore, the emergence of a democratic federal union based on democracy and federalism.
It is a responsibility that falls on all our shoulders. The energy, faith, and zeal that we put in towards achieving peace can serve as a beacon of light for our country, our Union, and all of our people. Whether this light will fade or brighten in the years ahead will determine Myanmar’s place in this world.
That is why the State Counsellor told local residents in Manaung, Rakhine State, at a meeting on Thursday that they can easily judge which actions improve their lives and which worsen them.
Local residents should ponder why some areas, which were once tranquil and good for working in, became filled with fear and contributed to the troubles of their parents, relatives, or kin. We need to carefully reconsider these matters.
We all need to question the need for waging armed struggles to get what one wants at a time when the country has a civilian government that respects the people, political dialogues that aim to establish a democratic federal Union, and a Hluttaw that represents the people.
