Myanmarese are finally starting their journey on the road of democracy which will take them to stability, peace and prosperity. After some uncertainty, the results of the landmark national elections were announced yesterday. As expected, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party has won with a staggering majority, ending half a century of dominance by the military. The election commission said the National League for Democracy (NLD) party has won 348 seats across the lower and upper house of parliament, 19 more than the 329 needed for an absolute majority. Myanmar has been moving toward a civilian-led government since the election of current President Thein Sein in 2011. Sein was a member of the military junta that had ruled Myanmar for decades, but he implemented many reforms.
Winning the election is likely to be the easiest part as Suu Kyi faces several daunting challenges. The question that will haunt many minds is how smooth the transition to democracy is likely to be. The Nobel laureate does not have complete power and the army generals, who have amassed billions of dollars in wealth, will still control the most powerful ministerial portfolios – interior, defence and border affairs. Despite all the assurances they have given, the generals can seize power if they want. In 1990, the NLD also won an election but the generals annulled the result, imprisoned her colleagues and placed her under house arrest. It’s for this reason that she has been proceeding cautiously this time. In her first speech a day after the elections, Suu Kyi warned her supporters not to target the losers. “I want to remind you all that even candidates who didn’t win have to accept the winners but it is important not to provoke the candidates who didn’t win to make them feel bad,” she told cheering crowds from the balcony of the NLD headquarters.
While the generals will be watching her closely, Suu Kyi will have a tough job of fulfilling her promises and keeping several ethnic groups happy. She will have to overcome distrust from leaders of ethnic minorities and solve the long-simmering conflicts along the country’s borders. For millions of Myanmar voters, she would be a natural choice for president, but she is barred from the post by the constitution -- a legacy of the former junta. To circumvent this Suu Kyi has said she will rule “above the president”, a legally uncertain position that she has not elaborated on. The world will expect her to solve the Rohingya crisis. Rohingyas are suffering persecution at the hands of the majority Buddhists. This will not be easy. The country has witnessed the dangerous rise of hardline Buddhist nationalists who have been stirring anti-Muslim bloodshed, which has hit the Rohingya minority hardest.
Myanmarese are finally starting their journey on the road of democracy which will take them to stability, peace and prosperity. After some uncertainty, the results of the landmark national elections were announced yesterday. As expected, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party has won with a staggering majority, ending half a century of dominance by the military. The election commission said the National League for Democracy (NLD) party has won 348 seats across the lower and upper house of parliament, 19 more than the 329 needed for an absolute majority. Myanmar has been moving toward a civilian-led government since the election of current President Thein Sein in 2011. Sein was a member of the military junta that had ruled Myanmar for decades, but he implemented many reforms.
Winning the election is likely to be the easiest part as Suu Kyi faces several daunting challenges. The question that will haunt many minds is how smooth the transition to democracy is likely to be. The Nobel laureate does not have complete power and the army generals, who have amassed billions of dollars in wealth, will still control the most powerful ministerial portfolios – interior, defence and border affairs. Despite all the assurances they have given, the generals can seize power if they want. In 1990, the NLD also won an election but the generals annulled the result, imprisoned her colleagues and placed her under house arrest. It’s for this reason that she has been proceeding cautiously this time. In her first speech a day after the elections, Suu Kyi warned her supporters not to target the losers. “I want to remind you all that even candidates who didn’t win have to accept the winners but it is important not to provoke the candidates who didn’t win to make them feel bad,” she told cheering crowds from the balcony of the NLD headquarters.
While the generals will be watching her closely, Suu Kyi will have a tough job of fulfilling her promises and keeping several ethnic groups happy. She will have to overcome distrust from leaders of ethnic minorities and solve the long-simmering conflicts along the country’s borders. For millions of Myanmar voters, she would be a natural choice for president, but she is barred from the post by the constitution -- a legacy of the former junta. To circumvent this Suu Kyi has said she will rule “above the president”, a legally uncertain position that she has not elaborated on. The world will expect her to solve the Rohingya crisis. Rohingyas are suffering persecution at the hands of the majority Buddhists. This will not be easy. The country has witnessed the dangerous rise of hardline Buddhist nationalists who have been stirring anti-Muslim bloodshed, which has hit the Rohingya minority hardest.
