In 1988, Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi became the face of a popular democracy movement
in Myanmar. Thirty years on, the Southeast Asian country has a democratic
government, but there is much to be desired.
Thirty years ago,
hundreds of thousands of people took part in protests across Myanmar, demanding
an end to the one-party rule. The call for democracy became stronger and
clearer when Aung San Suu Kyi became part of the protest movement. The masses
were clearly against the authoritarian system and needed an economic relief.
The students who
initiated and led the uprising rallied around Suu Kyi, the daughter of
independence hero Aung San. In August 1988, Suu Kyi gave a famous speech to an
estimated crowd of 500,000 people. Suu Kyi, who had lived abroad for decades,
demanded democracy and a multi-party system in her country.
"In some ways,
Suu Kyi had brought in the concept of democracy from the West," Hans-Bernd
Zöllner, a Myanmar expert, told DW. "It was unclear at the time what
democracy would mean for the country. What was clear was that people wanted to
change the system," Zöllner added.
Two
concepts of democracy
The dreams and hopes
of the protesters ended abruptly when the military took control of the country
on September 18, 1988. The armed forces crushed pro-democracy protests by using
brute force. Thousands of people were killed and many were arrested. Many
students fled to the neighboring countries.
A year later, Suu
Kyi founded the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won a
landslide victory in the 1990 election. But the military generals, who had
established the State Council for Law and Order (SLORC), refused to hand over
power to the NLD until a new constitution was drafted.
In the following
years, both sides consistently spoke of democracy; however both meant something
completely different. The military wanted a "disciplined democracy,"
in which the rules would be determined by the central government. Suu Kyi, on
the other hand, had the concept of a popular democracy in mind.
Military-style
democracy
For the next 20
years, the military pushed through its "disciplined democracy" in the
Southeast Asian country. In 2008, it finally adopted a new constitution, which
stipulated that a quarter of all parliamentary seats would be given to the
military. Constitutional amendments thus became impossible without the
military's consent.
According to the
constitution, the ministers for defense, border and interior affairs would be
appointed directly by the army chief. This meant that the military and police
remained under the generals' control.
"As they set
the rules, it was safe to hold the election," said Bertil Lintner, a
journalist and author who wrote one of the first books on the 1988 uprising,
called "8.8.88," referring to the start of the movement on August 8,
1988.
The election finally
took place in 2010. Suu Kyi's NLD boycotted the elections, rejecting the
constitution as undemocratic. Meanwhile, the military generals took off their
uniforms and presented themselves as civilian rulers, winning almost all seats
in parliament.
Further reforms
followed and finally, in 2015, the NLD agreed to participate in the general
election under the same conditions as in 2010. As expected, the NLD won the
elections and Suu Kyi became "State Councilor," an office as
important as that of prime minister's.
The international
media hailed the 2015 elections as a victory for democracy. Soon after the
polls, the West lifted its sanctions on Myanmar. But analysts like Lintner
believe that although the 2008 constitution opened up the country to some
extent, the real power was never transferred to the elected government.
"The NLD won the 2015 election but is not in power," he said.
Zöllner shares the
same view, but says that most people in Myanmar, who supported the 1988
democratic movement, feel the situation today is better than what it was in the
late 1980s and 1990s.
Aung San
Suu Kyi: From freedom fighter to pariah. Read here: https://lnkd.in/gjCxhfk
*7
NLD's
'retreat'
Lintner believes the
NLD is not being assertive enough despite the fact that there is space for it
to exert more pressure on the military.
"People expected
them to do more than what they have done since they won the 2015 election.
Instead, they retreated into a bubble, and it doesn't seem they will be able to
come out of it," Lintner said.
To explain his
point, Lintner cites the example of the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis in
Myanmar's Rakhine state. Last year, the military reacted to deadly attacks by
Muslim insurgents by
launching massive military operations in the area, which forced more
than 500,000 Rohingyas to flee to neighboring Bangladesh. The United Nations
described it as "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya Muslims. Read here: https://lnkd.in/grtTue2
The NLD has remained
largely invisible during the conflict.
Read more: Oxford
withdraws Aung San Suu Kyi's 'Freedom of the City' award. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gh3JmNX
Although Lintner is
convinced that the NLD would not have been able to confront the military over
the Rohingya issue, he says it could have at least responded to the
humanitarian crisis. Also, Suu Kyi could have visited Rakhine and met with
local politicians and those who were affected by the conflict. According to
Lintner, this is just one example of the NLD's inability to govern the country.
Since the
"perceived victory" of democracy in Myanmar, the West has also become
more active in the country, enhancing development cooperation and promoting
democracy. But both Zöllner and Lintner say the West's influence on Myanmar is
limited.
"The West can
preach democracy to Myanmar, but it will not change anything unless the impetus
for democracy comes from within the country," Lintner said, adding that he
does not see it happening anytime soon.
https://youtu.be/iPYLkHzDX4g
