Day Eight. Friday, 22 January 2016

Federalism should be a meeting point of all groups

Khil Raj Regmi, former Prime Minister of Nepal

Today, a jolly professor, Dr Andreas Ladner  from the University of Lausanne is our resource person on federalism.

Switzerland may not have so many ethnic races like Burma, but it has 3 other important differences that took centuries for them to overcome: religious denominations, wealth and political disagreements.

At one point, he is asked why Switzerland did not choose to become a union of 3 units based on language (Romansch is spoken by less than 100,000). His reply is forthright: 3 units will make one canton too strong, which in turn will create negative spontaneous reaction from the other units. Having several cantons significantly reduces that kind of risk.

For those in Burma advocating 8 states or 14 states configuration, his answer may well ring a bell.

I think it is also him who tells us why his country doesn’t have a popularly elected president as in the United States. “Only Germans will be elected,” he says. “And, that is not good for the union in the long run.”

He is not one who sings only the praises of federalism. It has its own downside, he reminds us. “Federalism costs money and time,” he says. “Sometime it is also very difficult to implement a national policy, as each canton does it differently.”

Nevertheless, I think the Swiss know it’s the price they have to pay for their union. So I don’t think they’ll trade federalism for a unitary state, whatever the faults of the former are.

Meanwhile, he doubts China will ever adopt federalism. “Their psychology doesn’t work that way,” he muses. “In their minds, China is the center and the rest are its peripheries.”

In the afternoon, we visit Geneva, 94.7 km away. It is pleasantly sunny, the first sun since our arrival.

I visit a bookstore called Payot which has several English books. After more than an hour, I choose one. To my regret, the store refuses to accept dollars. So I return to our hotel empty handed.

Day Nine. Saturday, 23 January 2016

Today is the day for review of what we have learned and how we can put them to use. Which I will not bother the reader with.

Except for one thing: We have learned some, but not as much as we want. Because time has been a great constraint. Maybe a refresher trip is what we need in the near future.  Remember Alexander Pope’s much quoted and misquoted words, that “A little learning (not knowledge) is a dangerous thing”?

In the evening, we are out on the bank of the Geneva Lake, just a 100 paces out from the hotel, decked in Shan costumes, for a photo session.

We are sort of like a novelty in town. So naturally many towners take photos with/ of us.

Day Ten. Sunday, 24 January 2016

Today we visit two castles: Chillon and Gruyerse. And then the local hydropower plants.

Our escort  Mr Antonie Dubas whose company works in Burma says: Shan State, like Switzerland, has a lot of streams and lakes. Small hydropower plants should be initiated by the local people. He is critical of the World Bank’s mega projects.

Again when I put the question to him about Bern’s peace efforts in Burma and his company’s involvement in hydropower projects, he is not disturbed. “The politicians do their job there,” he smilingly replies. “And we businesspeople do ours.”

Two days later, we are back in Chiangmai, our home away from home.

By SAI KHUENSAI / Director of Pyidaungsu Institute and Founder of Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N)

All views expressed are the author’s own