On Wednesday, we heard clearly the frustration felt by Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi about the way her talks with the regime’s mediator are going.

Suu Kyi was allowed to meet with senior members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), for about 90 minutes. After the meeting, the party’s spokesman, Nyan Win, quoted her as saying: “Let’s hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

The NLD spokesman said Suu Kyi was particularly frustrated at the government’s refusal to set a time frame for reforms and at the junta’s current position that political change should wait until the so-called road map to democracy is completed.

It was easy to predict that junta-sponsored rounds of talks would end up with this kind of result. Many observers believed the talks were meaningless, and furthermore that this is what the military intended—a pretence of goodwill to ease the political pressure from inside the country and abroad.

In September last year, the junta brutally suppressed the biggest pro-democracy protests in two decades.  Then, the junta appointed Labor Minister Aung Kyi as a “relations minister” to represent the military government in preliminary talks with the Nobel Peace Prize winner, following repeated calls for a dialogue by the September protesters and the international community.

Instead of heeding the frustration and anger of the pro-democracy activists, the junta reacted by raiding homes, arresting opposition members and hunting down those who fled. Latest reports say the authorities have charged several political prisoners who took part in the September uprising and that some were tortured and beaten while in police custody.

Although UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari has toured extensively in the region in an attempt to push Burma’s neighbors to help achieve national reconciliation in Burma, the process is going nowhere. Even a request by Burma’s closest ally, China, to allow Gambari to return to Burma was met with prevarication by the hard-headed Burmese generals.

After years of disappointment and sacrifice, patience is running out with the Burmese military government and its foot-dragging over moves toward democratization. All involved in the Burma issue are aware that if the Burmese regime continues with its present attitude and policy, havoc could result.

Britain’s ambassador to Burma has said the mood there is angry and he has predicted more demonstrations. Some observers think they may erupt in August, coinciding both with the 20th anniversary of the 1988 student-led uprising and with the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing.