'Myanmar not yet a democracy'

Myanmar's opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday warned that her country, despite a spate of reforms hailed by the international community, "is not yet a democracy".
Speaking in Berlin to accept a human rights award, she said the country formerly called Burma still needs a democratic constitution, true national reconciliation and a change of mindset among its ex-military rulers.
She urged the world to keep a close eye on the government and to ask: "Does it want to go toward a truly democratic union or does it want to go towards an authoritarian state disguised in democratic garb?"
Suu Kyi, 68, was released from years of house arrest in 2010, and a quasi-civilian government led by former general Thein Sein has since pushed reforms that have ended Myanmar's pariah status, lifted sanctions and sparked an investment boom.
The former political prisoner has entered parliament, and her National League for Democracy (NLD) plans to contest elections next year, hoping to repeat a sweeping 1990 victory that was ignored by the former junta.
However, her reputation has been tarnished over the past 18 months as a result of her failure to comment on brutal sectarian violence targeting Muslims in Myanmar, as well as continued military attacks against ethnic minority rebels.
She also met German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday.
Thanking her international supporters for backing the cause of freedom, she cautioned that "Burma is not yet a democracy. We have been given the chance to build a democratic society, we have not yet built one."