By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 30 --
When the
Myanmar
parliament
heard from UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, he
delivered what
he'd prepared
selected media
to expect: a
call to remove
or reduce
sanctions.
The
next day Kim
Sung-hwan, who
is Ban's
successor as South
Korean
foreign
minister, is
expected to
demonstrate
Ban's
leadership by
following his
urging and
increasing
relations with
the still
military
dominated
Burmese
government.
Ban's
speech
praised the UN
Global Compact
and the recent
and some say
dubious
humanitarian
access to
Kachin State,
where voting
was banned in
the
last election.
During
Ban's visit
to India his
office issued
a stream of
announcements
and
transcripts
to the press:
read outs of
meetings,
statements and
Q&As with
media.
These started
with a read
out with
Ghulam Nabi
Azad, Minister
of Health and
Family Welfare
of India on
April 26,
through a
"revised"
readout with
Mr. Prithviraj
Chavan, Chief
Minister of
Maharashtra
State on April
28, with
Q&A
transcript in
between.
But these
abruptly
stopped as
soon as Ban
entered
Myanmar.
Why?
It
wasn't that
Ban
didn't speak
with the media
his office
hand-picked to
document his
trip. These
media reported
quotes from a
"dinner" with
Ban, and his
bloviations
about Syria
even while he
was in a
country
the UN
rapporteur for
which has
recommended a
war crimes
probe.
Some
think Ban
garner
positive
coverage by
committing to
not follow his
office's
normal
practice and
e-mail out
transcripts.
In New York
recently he
held a lunch
with wire
services and
then
distributed
quotes, hours
later but at
least on the
same day. This
was not done
here.
When
Ban's Burmese
trip was made
public a week
ago, Inner
City Press
asked Ban
"Aung
San
Suu Kyi says
that there is
a standoff
between
National
League for
Democracy
(NLD) members
and the
military-created
constitution.
What
is your view
of that? Also,
of the Kachin
area where
people were
not
allowed to
vote in this
most recent
election - are
you going to
look
at that while
you are
there?"
Ban's
downplayed
the
constitutional
fight and
dodged the
Kachin
question by
answering
about the
Karin. Inner
City Press
despite its
timely request
was not
among the
media
permitted to
cover Ban's
trip in
Myanmar. But
assurances
were given
that
announcements
would be made
throughout the
trip.
But
the first wire
reports were
about his
statement
there about
his statement
on Syria,
not the
Burmese
problems he is
ostensibly
there for.
Tellingly,
Ban's
spokesperson's
office even as
of 3 am New
York time on
April 30 has
not a single
transcript or
statement from
Ban in
Myanmar, but
rather
statement from
his stop in
India, back on
April 27.
Then
at 3 am came
a canned
statement on
the census,
and past 4 am
his speech.
Still no
Q&A or
transcripts,
even as of 7
am on April
30, New York
time.
Does Ban not
only want to
control, and
make
less critical,
the coverage
of his Myanmar
trip -- but
even to make
such coverage
impossible by
those his team
did not vet,
at least
until he
leaves the
country? As
one wag asked,
is Ban making
of the
UN another
Myanmar?
