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| Edited By: Aditi Bhaduri |Source: DNA |Updated: Nov 17, 2015, 06:30 AM IST
Myanmar has made history. In a season of elections, the victory of Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) is definitely a landmark. The November 8 elections were Myanmar’s first free nationwide polls in 25 years.
Official results posted by the Union Election Commission on November 13 showed that with nearly 85 per cent of all seats declared for the national, state and regional parliaments, the NLD had so far secured 238 out of the 330 seats in the lower house or House of Representatives of Burmese parliament and 110 seats out of 168 in the upper house, or House of Nationalities.
The landslide victory came after a long, uphill struggle. In the last general elections held in 1990, the NLD had won hands down. However, it was not allowed to form the government by the military. Suu Kyi was instead put under house arrest.
The current elections have brought to an end a long period of military rule, which began in 1962, impoverishing the country and fuelling ethnic tensions leading to a civil war. Even as Myanmar received strong support from the Chinese government, Western powers shunned it. There was a clampdown on all kinds of political rights and civil liberties; freedom of the press was restricted.
In 2011, a semi-civilian government under President Thein Sein began functioning. Since then a gradual easing of the military’s grip over Myanmar began, finally making way for the elections and the transition to democracy.
With the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party accepting defeat, much of the current parliament will be replaced. The military clique, which had dismissed the NLD’s win in 1990, has committed itself this time to respect the electorate’s decision.
“Congratulations to the chairperson Aung San Suu Kyi’s and her party for gathering support of the people. The government will respect and follow the people’s choice and decision, and work on transferring power peacefully according to the timetable,” read a statement posted on the Facebook page of the presidential spokesman.
A number of foreign observers, like representatives of the European Union had monitored the elections. There are allegations of inaccurate voter lists and cancellation of voting in some parts due to violence caused by the disenfranchisement of Muslims. None of the more than 90 parties registered by the election commission, for instance, fielded any Muslim candidate.
Nevertheless, these elections are to be lauded. Parties have campaigned amidst sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims. Suu Kyi herself has been accused of pursuing an Islamist agenda on one hand, and of being an agent of foreign power on the other.
Hence, the challenges facing her are considerable. Although the NLD is set to occupy much of parliament, the armed forces will continue to wield considerable power. Under a new constitution drafted in 2008, 25 per cent of seats in both houses are reserved for representatives of the armed forces and are not contested. Further, the commander in chief of the armed forces nominates the heads of three powerful ministries — interior, defence and border security, thus effectively retaining control over the bureaucracy.
The immediate challenge for Suu Kyi will be to find someone for the president’s post. A constitutional provision in the form of Article 59F bars a person whose family members owe allegiance to a foreign government from occupying the post of president. Both Suu Kyi’s sons are British nationals and there’s little doubt that this clause was put in place keeping her in mind. This has been a major source of tension between her and the Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces. In a number of TV interviews however, Suu Kyi has let it be known that she intends running the government and will “find someone” for the post. She has invited both the current President Thein Sein and Min Aung Hlaing, chief of the Armed Forces, for reconciliation talks, which have been accepted.
Suu Kyi is a seasoned and astute politician. She grew up in a political environment — the daughter of General Aung San, who is regarded as the father of Burmese independence. She knows she has to deal with the military both in parliament and in government. It’s widely expected that she will ask a representative from the military to occupy the post of president for the next two years. In any case the MEA government will be able to take charge only in February 2016.
One of Suu Kyi’s formidable challenges is to put an end to decades of conflict with armed ethnic groups. Thein Sein failed to do that. Suu Kyi has listed the promotion of “national reconciliation” as a priority. The NLD’s gains in the minority ethnic states contributed to its victory. Aware of the role these states can play in her electoral victory, in the past one year Suu Kyi had travelled frequently to such areas.
Her engagement with these regions will be useful in resolving the ethnic tensions in the country. Though by 1995 ceasefire agreements had been concluded with several armed groups, they have failed to address the issues underlying the conflicts — namely the imposition of a majority Burmese and Buddhist identity on the minorities and the lack of decentralisation of power and equitable distribution of resources. Much of Myanmar’s mineral wealth is located in these regions inhabited by ethnic minorities like the Kachin, the Shan and the Karen. Groups such as the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the United Wa State Army (UWSA) have succeeded in bringing large parts of the countryside under their control. The Rohingya Muslims continue to be persecuted by Buddhist extremists. Suu Kyi has to deal with all these contending groups. She also has to take on board the strong Buddhist clergy, which is hostile to other religious minorities.
Hence, the task ahead of her is an unenviable one. But with the landslide mandate behind her, she can now take the country forward and fulfil the aspirations of the people of Myanmar.
The author is a journalist
