By Swan Ye Htut / The Myanmar Times | September 16, 2016

President U Htin Kyaw highlighted the importance of recognising the voices and rights of minorities in a formal address read out on his behalf yesterday at a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw to mark International Democracy Day.

Through surrogate U Kyaw Tint Swe, Union minister for the State Counselor’s Office, the president stated, “The opinion of minorities should not be neglected because democracy respects the fundamental rights of each citizen and the rights of the minorities.”

He later stated that a strong and mature democratic political culture can be developed in Myanmar by following the consensus of the majority, while giving respect to the rights of minorities and tolerating differences.

The president pointed to the recent 21st-century Panglong Conference as an example of the government’s commitment to democracy.

“That’s why, in solving the country’s affairs in a democratic way, the government has to conduct them transparently, taking the inclusion of its citizens seriously.”

At the Panglong Conference, representatives of ethnic minorities and organisations as well as individual experts from different points of view joined the nation’s Bamar majority in laying out their opinions on how to bring about a sustainable peace and enhanced democracy in Myanmar, the message said.

“The cases discussed in the conference will keep on being negotiated peacefully in political dialogues in order to achieve a solution and develop a democratic federal union,” it said.

U Htin Kyaw’s message stated that he did not know whether the journey toward national reconciliation, peace and constitutional change would be long or short, but that it was a “journey we must walk”.

In a speech also marking International Democracy Day, lower house Speaker U Win Myint contrasted dictatorships with democratic systems, imploring Myanmar’s people to protect the country’s nascent era of liberalism.

“We all should keep our eyes on the sprout of our democracy, not

[allowing it] to be destroyed,” he said. “We all need to protect it from being destroyed by trying to notice the sources of danger – and to treat well, with a patient and forgiving mind, people and organisations that are hostile to democracy.”

 Translation by Thiri Min Htun

This article originally appeared on The Myanmar Times on September 16, 2016

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