Q : How do you describe the situation in the country at the moment?

Aung San Suu Kyi : Well, it's a very interesting time for everybody, and it's also a very crucial time. As you probably know, we have asked for a Parliament to be convened before the 21st of August. Now we have waited very patiently for eight years, and the people have waited patiently for eight years, for their will to be implemented, so this is a time when we have got to see what the government is going to do, how much goodwill they are going to demonstrate towards the people, and towards the movement for democracy. After all, they have always claimed that they want to democratize Burma.

Q : Do you think it is likely that the military regime will have dialogue with the NLD soon?

ASSK : We've always said that they will have to have dialogue sooner or later, and we've always hoped that it would be sooner rather than later! I would have thought now was the best time, because prior to the convening of Parliament it would be sensible for both sides to talk to each other.

Q : Will the NLD convene Parliament with or without the military?

ASSK : This is not something that I can answer now, but what I can tell you is this, that we consider it our responsibility to implement the will of the people, and we will certainly not fail in carrying out our responsibility.

Q : What do you think is the position of the average Burmese in the country?

ASSK : Unhappy. The economic situation is very bad, as you well know, and the education system is very bad, health care is poor, so what do we have left? People are poor, their children are not getting properly educated, their health is not looked after, the future seems very bleak, unless there is change. So I would say that the average citizen in Burma is hoping for change, not just hoping, but longing and praying for change!

Q : And how do you think that dialogue will help the average Burmese person?

ASSK : Our idea of dialogue is a way of finding a solution that would be beneficial to the great majority of our people. I can't see a solution that will be beneficial for everybody, because there is hardly ever a human solution that can be applied to everybody, but dialogue would be the means of finding a way forward, finding a way out of these problems under which we have been drowning for so many years.

Q : Do you think that the international community will help accelerate the road to dialogue?

ASSK : We think that the international community can help if they have a will to do so, because in this day and age, as no man is an island unto himself, no country is an island unto itself, not even a country like Japan or England, which are geographically islands. So the international community certainly can do a lot to help accelerate the process of dialogue, if they have the will to do so.

Q : There has been some concern among certain diplomats that NLD does not have a transitional plan that they can support?

ASSK : Well there are two reasons why we cannot talk about a transitional plan. First of all you have to recognize the fact that we are a much-harassed and persecuted party, and it is not in our interest to reveal our plans, because usually that gets our people into trouble. Also, there is another reason -- we do have a transitional plan, but we are open to suggestions. It's a flexible plan. If it were a plan that were inflexible, then we would not be calling for dialogue, and this is not what we want. We have always said that we don't want a zero-sum solution. We have our plan, of course, but we want to talk it over with the authorities, after all, it is at present the SPDC which is in power, and since we want to bring about change through non-violent means, that means we want to bring about change through dialogue and negotiation, so our plans, our hopes, our timetable as it were, is a flexible one, and it would be subject to negotiation and discussion. If we were to present a plan as "This is what we want" then where would be there room for negotiation?

Q : In a few days time, the ASEAN ministerial meeting will be held in Manila, followed by the ASEAN Regional Forum which will be attended by representatives of key countries throughout the world. How, what specific steps should they be supporting, in regards to Burma?

ASSK : I think the first thing they can do is to support our call for the convening of Parliament, and make a very very firm case for dialogue towards that process. It is the first step towards democratization. How can we talk about democratization when the elections that took place eight years ago have still not been honored? So we would very much like the ASEAN countries to give full support to our call for the convening of Parliament, in the full understanding that this call was not and is not a confrontational move, but a positive step towards the democratization of Burma.

Q : Certain key players, including the military regime, and some investors, are afraid of that, because they may lose their positions in a country in which dialogue has taken place and parliament has been convened. What is your response to that?

ASSK : We have said again and again that dialogue is not a debate in which there will be winners and losers. A dialogue will be a process through which we can come to a solution which will be beneficial to the great majority of us, which would be of benefit to both sides, or to all participants in the dialogue process. We are not out to punish anybody, we are not out to crush or annihilate anybody, that is not our way, that is not our policy. What we want to do is to bring about national reconciliation, so that as few people as possible will lose out from the process. In fact what we want to find is a solution that will be a win-win one, a win-win solution for everybody concerned.

Q : There has been concern that you might be threatened owing to recent developments, for instance the attack in front of your house, being surrounded in your car when you attempted to go out of Rangoon. What is the situation with regard to your personal safety?

ASSK : Well, I'm as safe as anyone in Burma, which of course is not saying much, if you are under a dictatorial regime, because when there is no rule of law, nobody is really safe. So I can only say that I am as safe as anybody can be in a country where there is no rule of law.

Q : Is it likely that the situation could become increasingly dangerous?

ASSK : For whom? For me?

Q : For you, and the NLD leadership?

ASSK : Well, I don't think we could be in more danger than we have been for the last ten years.

Q : There has been concern about your personal safety, and that the NLD is provoking a confrontation in the country, with the military. What is your response to that?

ASSK : Well, we are not provoking any sort of confrontation. We are only asking for what is the due, not of the NLD, but of the people of Burma. To ask for the convening of Parliament is tantamount to asking for the recognition of the will of the people as expressed through the elections of 1990. So we are only asking for what is due to the people of Burma. That should not be looked upon as a provocation or a confrontation, particularly in view of the fact that we have waited patiently for eight years. Eight years is a long time to wait for somebody to keep his promise, so I do not think we are provoking anybody. [If] they are afraid of anything, if anybody is nervous that the convening of Parliament will lead to instability within the country they only have to talk to us about it, so that we can come to a mutual understanding, whereby there will not take place anything that will upset the stability of the country.

Q : What will the NLD be prepared to do in the next few weeks?

ASSK : I can hardly give you a blow by blow detailed account of what our intentions are, but I can only say that we are prepared to do everything that we need to do in order to serve the people, and in order to keep our promise to the people that we will work for democracy.

Q : In the past few years we have seen a substantial injection of funds into the Burmese economy, through development aid and through business investment from Japan. How do you think that is helping the Burmese people?

ASSK : We don't think that injecting funds into Burma under the present circumstances helps the Burmese people at all. We know that Japan has very friendly feelings towards Burma, but we have to keep reminding the Japanese authorities that we have to think about the people of Burma when they are thinking about helping Burma, not about the government of Burma.

Q : Do you think that by supporting the government of Burma the Japanese investors will be able to make a profit? Do you think that investment in Burma at this stage is profitable?

ASSK : No, I don't think that investment in Burma at this stage is profitable for anybody. But if the Japanese were dealing with a government that truly represents the people, that would be another matter. But to be dealing with a government which is a dictatorial one, is really not the same as dealing with the people of Burma. So investing in Burma at the moment very often amounts to nothing more than support of the present regime.

Q : There have been comments made in the Japanese media that visitors to Burma have found there are no tanks in the street, that the people are happy and smiling, and there does not seem to be any visible violations taking place in the country.

ASSK : Do they want to see people being shot on the streets before they take action? I think that's a very irresponsible attitude. What they've got to think about is not what they see in the streets, but what they don't see. For example, the political prisoners in the jails of Burma. So what they see is not what counts, it's what they don't see that counts. The harassment to which we are subjected every day - every day almost, we hear about somebody who has been detained or arrested. It's not a normal life to have to ask, now who was arrested last night? This is not the way people should live, this is not the way people should be made to live. Just because there are no tanks out in the street, is no reason for saying there is nothing wrong with this country. How many countries are there in the world where there are tanks out in the street? And yet there are many countries in the world where the people are not allowed their basic rights.

Q : There has been criticism that your support for sanctions against Burma is hurting the country. What is your response to that?

ASSK : My response to that is that it's a lot of nonsense, because it was not because of sanctions that Burma is in the economic mess that it is now today, it is because the country got into an economic mess that the sanctions have been so effective.

Q: How do you think development aid and investment from Japan can help the people? In what circumstances would investment and aid from Japan help the people of Burma?

ASSK : Investment and aid will help the people of Burma when there is a government which is responsible and accountable to the people. That is to say, when there is a government that truly represents the will of the people.

Q : So what is the biggest step, or the most significant action that Japanese people and the Japanese government can take to help the people of Burma?

ASSK : At the moment the NLD has called for the convening of Parliament, that is to say we have asked that the results of the elections of 1990 be implemented, and I think the best way in which the people and the government of Japan can help the people of Burma is to help us with the convening of Parliament, to realize that this is the first step towards democratization, and until there is democratization, there is no way in which Japan can help the people of Burma.