လႊတ္္တာ တကယ္လား..ဘယ္ေလာက္ၾကာရွည္ ခံမလည္း..မေတြးရဲဖူး

Myanmar opposition leader free, but for how long?


With extreme caution, I celebrate Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest.

This past week, my favorite dissident was allowed to freely leave her home in Yangon, Myanmar, where the military junta had kept her bound for seven years. For 15 of the last 21 years, the pro-democracy leader of the tiny Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma has been either jailed or under house arrest.

Ms. Suu Kyi’s story is intriguing. She was living in Britain with her late husband and young sons when her mother became ill in 1988. That required a trip back to her homeland, where she was swept into the struggle for democracy. And no wonder. Her father, Gen. Aung San, was considered the father of Burma’s independence. He was assassinated during the fight for liberty when she was a toddler.

Though her opposition political party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide election in 1990, the ruling military refused to let the victors take office. Instead, it quieted opponents and continued to control every aspect of life as it has since 1962, when military rule began.

After the 1990 vote, no elections were held until Nov. 7. The ruling junta maintained power in that vote, but the victory cannot be described as resulting from a fair election. The banning of foreign journalists and international election monitors were clear indications that the results would not be fair.

Many people did not vote out of fear that voting sites would be bombed. There apparently were no explosions, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered if the ruling military had lost because it was unlikely to accept that result. And the junta has no intention of allowing Ms. Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party to organize for a free nation.



Military leaders say no restrictions have been placed on her regained liberty. I’d like to take them at their word, but, given their iron-fisted rule, I’ll wait to see what happens. After all, following her release in 1995 and again in 2002, she was returned to house arrest when she began to exercise her freedom.

It’s pretty clear that the junta released Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in an attempt to distract the world from the country’s unfair elections. Why else would it choose so soon after the elections to release her from house arrest?

Interestingly, Ms. Suu Kyi’s remarks since her release have been fairly tepid, and she’s been gracious toward her captors.

“Let’s meet and talk,” she told Senior General Than Shwe, Myanmar’s leader. She maintains that she holds no malice toward them, and has called for them to release thousands of other political prisoners.

But talk is not what the military junta wants. If it did, it might suggest it is open to supporting freedom of speech, which it does not. A change of heart in the military is in order in more ways than one.

“The basis of democratic freedom is freedom of speech,” she told cheering crowds after she was freed.

Her remarks were not just for the nation’s military leaders. Acknowledging that “a one-woman show is not democracy,” Ms. Suu Kyi admonished supporters to become more politically assertive.

“You have to stand up for what is right,” she said. “If people really want sanctions to be lifted, I will consider this.

“This is the time Burma needs help,” she continued. “We ask everyone to help us. Western nations. Eastern nations. The whole world … it all starts with dialogue.”

Although Ms. Suu Kyi is not a hard-core political figure, she doesn’t need to be for democracy to win in Myanmar. Clearly, her popularity has not diminished after many years in prison and under house arrest. Her international favor remains strong as well.

The military junta does not have a pushover in this opposition leader. I only hope the junta really does allow her to move about freely and speak openly. I wouldn’t be surprised if it detains Ms. Suu Kyi again, but if it does not, then democracy is on the horizon in Myanmar.

Rose Russell is a Blade associate editor.

Contact her at: rrussell@theblade.com
http://toledoblade.com/article/20101120/COLUMNIST24/101119460/-1/OPINION04