Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, pictured in St Mary’s Cathedral in downtown Yangon on 11/6/2015. Photo: Alexander Hotz
With days to go before Myanmar’s historic election, Charles Maung Bo, the country’s outspoken Roman Catholic cardinal, says its people are “disgusted” with their rulers and ready for change.
On Friday, in an interview at his Yangon office filled with stuffed animals gifted by friends, the 66-year-old made some of his boldest statements yet on the nation’s politics.
“Not only myself but the whole of Myanmar – 90 to 95 per cent – is tired of this regime [that has ruled] for half a century,” he said. “Somewhat disgusted. Everybody is longing for a change.”
Cardinal Bo, who was appointed by Pope Francis in January, has been a strong voice on the country’s social ills, giving rousing sermons that touch on religion, corruption, climate change and the plundering of resources by government and armed groups.
On Friday, he warned the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party was playing a “trick” by excluding millions from voting in Sunday’s election.
Polls have been cancelled in areas affected by flooding or conflict, while more than one million members of the stateless Rohingya Muslim minority in western Rakhine State have been denied voting rights.
“The regime is playing a trick excluding the minorities,” said the cardinal. “They give the reason [that the cancellations are] because of lack of security but, in reality, they like to exclude all those votes that will be against them.”
Throughout his 10 months as a cardinal – he is the first Myanmar citizen to hold the position – and previous years as archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Bo has led calls for religious harmony.
He has been a lonely voice against Buddhist nationalist groups like the Committee to Protect Race and Religious, also known by its Ma Ba Tha, which has stoked anti-Muslim sentiment ahead of the polls.
An Al-Jazeera investigation last week accused the government of state-sponsored persecution, in tandem with Ma Ba Tha.
“If this same regime carries on favoring this Ma Ba Tha group there could be a danger that these minorities, these ethnic groups and other religions could be discriminated [against] and perhaps more exclusion could happen in the country,” said Cardinal Bo.
While Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, has been criticized for her silence on the plight of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, she has promised her party would bring human rights for all.
Charles Maung Bo said he expected Suu Kyi, who is barred from the presidency but has vowed to run the government nonetheless, to take advice from representatives of all the country’s faiths.
“Aung San Suu Kyi herself has mentioned that if she were to lead the country, she would make use of all the religious leaders to cooperate in the building of the country,” he said.
Myanmar’s Catholic community makes up only around 800,000 of a population of 51 million, but dates its presence back five centuries.
“When I was made a bishop and [then] a cardinal, I felt that – according to the personal advice of the Pope – Catholics are a small minority group here and should have the courage to have concern for others.”
Stay tuned for our video profile of the cardinal…
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