The word democracy is constituted of two Greek words – ‘Demos’ and ‘Kratos.’ Demos means the people and Kratos implies power. Abraham Lincoln has given one of the best definitions containing all aspects of democracy. He defines “Democracy is a Government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
Democracy is a very broad concept as it’s the guiding principles of almost all walks of human activities. The basic democratic principle provides liberty, equality and individual rights to the people. It’s fully associated with cultural, economical, social welfare and full development of the people.
The democratic government is based on direct link between the people and government. People exercise control over government indirectly through their representatives or directly through democratic processes – election, protest and public opinions etc.
The people must be fully aware of their rights and duties for the success of indirect democracy. They are responsible for electing their own representatives. This system of democracy is widely practice in India, USA, Britain and different countries.
All the people can openly participate in the process of administration in direct democracy. This form of democracy is used in Greek city-state in ancient times. It’s still operational in Switzerland and some other countries where public opinion is taken in administration.
A free and independent use of multimedia is one of the basis foundations of democracy. It helps in bringing transparency, responsibility and accountability of the government. Freedom of speech, expression, religion and equal opportunity are essential part of democracy. It’s these very freedoms that differentiate democracy from military and communist system of administration.
The people of Burma have been constantly denied to enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms. The Burmese dictators has created civil of discrimination against fellow citizens for more than six decades. It's because the regime did not want to establish a federal union where different divisions and states of the country could have independent administration.
The last election was held in May, 1990 but the regime refused to transfer power to the elected representatives of National League for Democracy and other parties. Instead they framed Nargis Constitution with 25% parliament seats reserved for military personal and recently held selection to have absolute control over the people.
It’s a dream of Burmese people to get justice in social, economic and political sphere where their fundamental human rights would be judicially protected. I hope this dream will turn into reality under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the near future.
