Aung San Suu Kyi @en – European Affairs Magazine

Aung San Suu Kyi wants to release political prisoners

9 Aprile 2016 Asia @en di

After the oath of Htin Kyaw, the first democratically elected president of Myanmar after 56 years of military dictatorship, continues the path of change in the country of Southeast Asia.

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Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), of which the new government is a direct expression, could not assume the role of prime minister because of a constitutional provision which was introduced by the junta military to avoid the risk of her coming to power. The “Steel Orchid”, however, since the election campaign ended with the last November elections, had promised the citizens of Myanmar that, if victorious, she would have ruled the country “above” the President.

To enable her to fulfill this commitment, the new Parliament has created an ad hoc position for San Suu Kyi, assigning her the role of the State Consultant. In this official position, the party leader can directly contact and summon ministers, departments, organizations, associations and individuals to discuss the main of government agenda. A role that, in fact, allows Suu Kyi to rule indirectly, through the “delegate” President Htin Kyaw.

One of the first issues on which Aung San Suu Kyi intends to assert its weight is that of political prisoners. Last Thursday the Nobel prize, with a post on Facebook, has stated his intention to push for a mass amnesty that allows the release of political prisoners, activists and students imprisoned by the military junta in recent years.

The arbitrary imprisonment of thousands of activists for democracy has been a dramatic constant during the decades of dictatorship, and the same Suu Kyi had been living for 15 years under house arrest. Many of the recently elected MPs, as well, have tried the hard repression of the regime and the hardships of prison life.

The semi-civilian transition government, which was in power from 2011 to 2015, had already granted the freedom to hundreds of political prisoners, but it is estimated that there are still 90 imprisoned activists and another 400 awaiting trial. About 70 of these are students arrested before last November’s elections, charged of having participated in illegal meetings or taking part, in March 2015, in the street protests against the educational reform, harshly repressed by the police. After more than a year, the trials in many cases have yet to come to sentence.

The decisive initiative of Suu Kyi, which portends a direct intervention, in short, by the prime minister Kyaw, could push the prosecutor to drop the charges against the students. But the difficulties are still many, considering the deep inefficiency of the judicial system in Myanmar.

The first problem, again, is represented by the army, to which the current constitution guarantees a quarter of parliamentary seats and the control of some of the most important ministries. The power of the military, in Myanmar, has been mutilated but is still strong and widespread. Every democratic reform will inevitably have to deal with its opposition.

Luca Marchesini

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Myanmar: finally the first elected president

1 Aprile 2016 Asia @en di

For Myanmar’s finally the turning point. After 56 years of military rule, in the country of Southeast Asia took office a democratically elected government, thanks to the victory of the National League of Democracy (NLD) in the last November consultations.

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The first civilian president of the new course is called Htin Kyaw. Initially indicated by the Western media as the simple driver of Aung San Suu Kyi, Kyaw has always been, in fact, the closest collaborator of the NLD leader and has accepted the role of prime minister only in consequence of the constitutional ban that prevents people married into a foreign national to hold the office of prime minister.

Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize and a symbol of the struggle for democracy against the military junta, was married until 1999 with the Briton Michael Aris, with whom she had two children with dual citizenship. The law therefore prevents her from formally assume the powers and responsibilities of the presidency, but the ” Iron Orchid “, as she was renamed during the years of militancy and imprisonment, has already made clear that she intends to govern through the figure of his loyal collaborator . It therefore constitutes a sort of indirect premiership.

Htin Kyak, 69, has vowed loyalty, with its ministers and two vice-presidents, to the people of Myanmar, in front of the Parliament, in a plenary meeting, in the capital Nay Pyi Taw. In the list of new members of the government stands the name of Aung San Suu Kyi, who will deal directly with foreign affairs, education, energy and the Bureau. Just to clarify that all important decisions will pass anyway from his desk.

Three other key ministries, such as defense, interior affairs and border affairs, will remain under the control of the military, which also nominates a quarter of members of parliament and keep the veto power on constitutional reforms. Those inevitable limitations, to ensure a peaceful change of power, was agreed in talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Thein Sein, in power for five years and expression of the military junta.

About San Suu Kyi, symbol of the country, we know practically everything. But who is the new president Kyaw? He and the leader of the NLD have attended high school together and have been since then tied by a strong friendship. He studied computer science in the United Kingdom and Japan, and has always maintained a low profile, being appreciated, once back at home, for honesty and loyalty to the cause of democracy. During the fifteen long years of detention, he was among the few to have access to the prison house of Suu Kyi and, after the liberation, was often seen by his side, even in the guise of a driver. He’s married to the daughter of one of the founders of the National League of Democracy, also Member of the National Parliament, and in the past was involved in the management of the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity whose name is dedicated to the late mother of the Nobel Prize.

In his inaugural speech, the new President Kyaw has referred to the complex challenges facing the country, first of all the need for a cease-fire to end, as soon as possible, to armed conflicts that for decades opposed the central power to several ethnic minorities. Kyaw also stated that the new government plans to introduce constitutional changes, to make the fundamental law of the country in line with modern democratic principles.

This last commitment is certainly the most difficult to achieve because the army, to which the current constitution guarantees vast powers, does not appear willing to permit other democratic changes. But just five years ago, Myanmar was forced to face severe economic sanctions, because it was considered by the international community as an obscurantist military regime, with thousands of political prisoners and the total absence of freedom of expression.

Many things have improved since then, largely through the efforts of Aung San Suu Kyi and her movement. The future, today, appears full of promise to which it is permissible to believe.

Luca Marchesini

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Myanmar: Suu Kyi and peaceful transition

4 Dicembre 2015 Asia @en di

For the new Myanmar of Aung San Suu Kyi is the time of “peace talks”. After the victory of the National League of Democracy (NLD) in the election three weeks ago, the leader of the movement, historical activist for human rights in the former Burma, met President Thein Sein, head of the government that, in 2011, marked the beginning of the democratic transition of the country, after 49 years of military dictatorship.

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The meeting lasted 45 minutes, during which they discussed the terms of a painless handover between the outgoing executive, with a civil profile but supported and appointed by the Junta, and the new government of the NLD, which won the elections of November 8 with an overwhelming majority.

Eight out of ten voters voted for the party of Suu Kyi, even if the know that the Nobel Prize for peace could not directly exercise power, because of constitutional restrictions prohibiting anyone with children of foreign nationality to become prime minister. But Aung San Suu Kyi immediately made clear its intention to play a leading role in the new government. The name of next Prime Minister has not yet been made public, but the most important decisions for the future of the country will be taken by her.

In the role of de facto leader, the Burma ”Iron Orchid ” met, on Dec. 2, the outgoing President Thien Sein and the Army Chief, Min Aung Hlaing. The meeting was held in Nay Pyi Taw, the city 320 kilometers from Yangon, which in 2005 was elevated to the role of capital. In the talk, which lasted less than an hour, Suu Kyi asked the representatives of the old power bloc to ensure a peaceful and painless handover. Sein and Hlaing offered their commitment, ensuring that there won’t be attempts of interference in the way of transition.

The concerns of the leaders of the NLD are dictated by the fact that the military retain a quarter of the seats in both houses of Parliament of Myanmar and, with them, the power of veto over constitutional reforms and key positions in the main ministries. Caution is required in consideration of the dramatic experiences of the past. The party of Aung San Suu Kyi won the election even in 1990, but the result was ignored by the military junta and, since then, Suu Kyi was under house arrest for a total period of 15 years. Confidence, since then, has become a rare commodity.

The victory of the NLD in the elections has generated excitement and new expectations on the path of democratization of the country, especially at international level. According to Miemie Byrd, professor of Burmese origin of the ‘Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, interviewed by Al Jazeera, however, optimism is excessive.

” My concern is that the international community’s reaction and interpretation (about elections) could exacerbate the conflicts and challenges inside Myanmar”,” she said, adding that the country still has a long way to go. “Whomever is at the leadership of the new government will be limited by the above challenges to quickly advance the reforms and progress. You just can’t get the bullock cart to go as fast as an automobile. ” The international community, she concluded, must “exercise patience and have realistic expectations” on the speed of the transition process.

Luca Marchesini

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