Daily Times

The victory of world renowned pro-democracy activist and political leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi in the recent by-polls marks the beginning of a new era for the people of the least developed Southeast Asian country, ruled by a military junta since 1962. Her political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) claims to have won 44 seats out of a total 45. The achievement is indeed a promising sign of a shift of power from the military to the pro-democracy civilian leaders.
The history of Myanmar is replete with civil wars after it gained independence from the British in 1948. The military takeover in 1962 worsened the situation. Rampant human rights violations, years long military action against insurgent minority ethnic groups and the presence of draconian laws persuaded the international community, particularly the US and western powers, to impose strict economic sanctions on the country forcing its ruling elite to finally, but haltingly, introduce democratic reforms. At present, apart from China and ASEAN, the country has been facing isolation at the international level. Under extreme economic pressure, in 2010 the military government decided to hold general elections, reflecting a change in its earlier repressive policy. However, the NLD was not allowed to take part in the controversial polls. The whole exercise could not gain credibility due to allegations of massive rigging by the government. However, the elected civil-military hybrid government introduced some reforms that were met with surprise by the international community. Those reforms included the release of Suu Kyi on November 13, 2010, the release of several political prisoners, introduction of labour laws and permission to the NLD to participate in the polls, etc.
On April 1, the by-polls marked the return of the NLD to electoral politics under the leadership of Daw Suu Kyi, who has dedicated her life to upholding democracy and the rights of her people and even remained under house arrest for almost 15 of her 21 years-long struggle. Her unwavering fight has finally won her rewards that seemed unthinkable even a few months ago. Her success seems promising for the progress of democracy in Myanmar. However, there is still a long way to go. The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) still enjoys a majority in the 662-seat parliament. That is why her party is not in favour of the speedy removal of international sanctions. It is indeed wiser to link the removal of sanctions to further reforms by the government. Suu Kyi’s presence in parliament seems, nonetheless, the harbinger of a better future for the oppressed masses of Myanmar. *