Myanmar, previously known as Burma, is a country with a complex recent history characterised by a ceaseless struggle to enforce democracy.
On Monday, the country experienced a government coup - the most recent escalation in a decades long battle between the military and democracy fighters.
Burma was a British colony up until 1948 when it regained its independence and became a presidential democracy under president U Nu. This newfound democracy and unity was unable to be maintained and in 1962 the military seized all powers from the government in a coup. General Ne Win (who was the military leader at the time) took control of all businesses and industries and arrested U Nu along with several of his cabinet ministers. Ne Win justified these actions as a means of keeping the Union of Burma together. Ne win went on to establish Burma as a single party socialist state and became the automatic leader of his military government and subsequently, the entire country. The 1947 constitution that declared Burma an independent state with a democratically elected President (who does not hold any other office or important position) was suspended. General Ne Win began to rule the country with a Revolutionary Council consisting of solely senior military officials who established a command economy and nationalised the country’s commerce and industry.
In 1974, a new constitution was declared outlining that a fully Socialist society is the goal of the State. A socialist society would be one in which every citizen has an equal share of the control of production, distribution and an exchange of resources. Each person should give and contribute according to their ability and members of the community should receive their share once a small portion is taken for the common good: military, transport or education. In August 1988, after years of oppression and military governance, pro-democracy and anti-government riots broke out, known as the 8888 Uprising. They are met with brutal military resistance, resulting in over 5000 dead. Months later, armed forces led by General Saw Maung stage another military coup, seizing control of the government and replacing it with his own military body called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The SLORC replaced the Burma Socialist Programme Party, and Saw Maung, chairman of the SLORC, became the de facto leader of the country. Maung promised democracy and free elections and changed the country's name to Myanmar - perhaps in an attempt to leave behind Burma’s colonial past or wash away the guilt and bloodshed caused in the 8888 Uprisings. This same month of September 1988, Aung San Suu Kyi, a human rights protestor and pro-democracy activist, founds the Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and enters in the 1990 elections.
The military government was feeling external pressure, especially from the European Union and the United States, to make good on its promise of democracy. Consequently, an election was announced, resulting in The NLD's victory by a substantial majority. However, the military refused to acknowledge the win or hand over power to Aung San Suu Kyi, instead, she is placed under house arrest. This was met with worldwide condemnation of the military regime. The world focused on Myanmar and Aung San Suu Kyi was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her commitment to establishing peaceful change.
In April 1992 General Saw Maung's health was failing and he was replaced by General Than Shwe as the chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the Prime Minister and the defence minister. The same year, amidst negotiations with Aung San Suu Kyi and facing extreme external pressure, they released several political prisoners - in an attempt to improve Myanmar’s international image. Then in 1993, the military government formed the Union of Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), this later becomes the Union of Solidarity and Development Party.
When Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in 1995, she attended a National League for Democracy meeting where she was intercepted by SLORC along with 200 other delegates who were on their way to the party congress. Following this, the US invoked economic sanctions on Myanmar and restricted contact. In 2000 Aung San Suu Kyi was, unsurprisingly, detained again: this time for rejecting the council’s decision about her visit her British husband who was dying from cancer in the United Kingdom. The European Union tightened sanctions on Myanmar: by restricting trade and limiting interactions whilst the United Nations continued to condemn the human rights violations occurring. This international pressure causes the council to rule that 200 pro-democracy activists be released in 2001.
In May 2002 Aung San Suu Kyi is released after almost 20 months of house arrest and is allowed to travel around the country. Her new found freedom was short-lived as she was placed under house arrest again in 2003 - supposedly for her own protection after an attempted attack. More than 70 of her supporters had been killed in an attack in May by the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). The USDA later was turned into the military’s proxy party in parliament - the USDP. After both the European Union and the United States tightened their sanctions, it became clear to the government that in order to prosper economically they would need to make significant democratic progress - enough so that the sanctions get lifted.
In 2006, the military constructed an entirely new city in secret: Naypyitaw (between capital Yangon and Mandalay). It was named the new capital yet, to this day, the government has been unable to attract citizens to live there or even any tourists to visit. This city, which occupies 7054 square kilometres (roughly 4.5 times the size of London) has less than a million residents and is still an empty city. It is unclear why the government built this city and decided to move the entire bureaucracy there - perhaps out of fear of an invasion or a rebellion.
Coincidentally, in 2007, Buddhist monks led a series of protests against the military governments removal of fuel subsidies. The military again retorts violently, drawing further international condemnation. As a response, the government holds a referendum about the constitution and democratisation - this referendum was not what the sanctions had intended and was widely controversial. The resulting constitution that was drawn up ensured that the military would continue to play a leading role in leading politics: at least 1/4 of any legislative chamber would have to be comprised of military officials.
In 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi is freed from house arrest and the military government amend electoral reform laws to state that anyone convicted of crimes or anyone married to a foreign national should be barred from entering the elections. This was a purposeful amendment to stop Aung San Suu Kyi from entering as she had both a British husband as well as records of house arrest (and breaking the house arrest in 2009 when she allowed an unauthorised visit). They also amended them so that anyone who entered the election would have to agree to void the results of the 1990 elections (which the National League for Democracy won in a landslide). This forces the NLD to withdraw from the elections as they would not only have to nullify their past successes but also expel Aung San Suu Kyi from the party. After these elections, in 2012, the NLD was allowed to re-register as an official party and Aung San Suu Kyi reassumed her seat in her home constituency in Yangon.
Later, in 2012, fights between Buddhists and Muslims (the Rohingya) break out in the Western Rakhine state: hundreds of people were killed and many Rohingya were forced to leave Myanmar. The Rohingya is the official term for the Muslims living in the Rakhine state: thought to be one of the most persecuted minority groups of all time. In 2000, they made up roughly 1/3 of the population of the Rakhine State - with Buddhists making up the other 2/3. However, the Buddhist population began to reject the word Rohingya and claimed that this group of people were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and were Bengali, and that they had to leave. This led to violence and constant disputes. In 2014, the Myanmar government decided on a split decision to invalidate all those who identify as Rohingya and only allow those who officially classify themselves as Bengali to obtain a Myanmar citizenship. The Rohingya were then also unable to obtain citizenship by birth as they Rohingya was not on the list of the 135 recognised ethnic groups (for a Myanmar citizenship). This 2014 ruling, the constant Buddhist attacks and even, campaigns of the military have forced the Rohingya to be displaced from the Rakhine state in huge numbers over the years.
In 2015, the National League for Democracy won the first freely contested election held in Myanmar. However, Sang Suu Kyi was unable to assume the title of president due to the previously mentioned rules (having a foreign national spouse and being convicted of a crime). Therefore, her close friend and ally Htin Kyaw was put forward as the party’s official candidate and was inaugurated on March 30th 2016. He created the position of State Counsellor especially for Aung San Suu Kyi to fill. This was received with controversy amongst military officials who dismissed it as unconstitutional.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s primary focus was to bring an end to the various revolts occurring across the country, with a particular focus being the violence against the Rohingya in the Rakhine state. However, this was not successful and in 2016 Rohingya fighters attacked police border posts causing a military campaign in the Rakhine state and further displacement of the Rohingya across the borders to Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. This issue was amplified in 2017 by further, even more brutal military campaigns that drove more than 730 000 Rohingya out of Myanmar into Bangladesh. The military campaigns were of unbelievable violence, they were comprised of mass killing, rape and arson. The United Nations condemned these actions at the 2017 conference at the Hague but Aung San Suu Kyi refused to denounce the military and denied that the campaign was done under ‘genocidal intent’ (as stated by the United Nations).
This refusal to denounce the military brought Aung San Suu Kyi under serious international condemnation for her hypocritical failure to denounce the military. She had a long standing history as a humans rights and pro-democracy activist but perhaps due to her dependency on the military and precarious position, she was not in a situation to actively denounce the army’s actions.
In 2018 it was estimated that more than 700 000 Rohingya had fled the Rakhine state following the initial military campaigns of 2016. More fighting occurs between in the Rakhine State, between government groups and a newly formed ethnic Rakhine group seeking greater autonomy within their region. This group was known as the Arakan Army (AA). Aung San Suu Kyi allegedly encouraged the army to defeat the rebels.
This brings us to 2020, where another election was held and the National League for Democracy wins in another landslide. However, this time there was controversy surrounding the election: the Union of Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) denied its credibility and called for a rerun of the election under strict military supervision. They also ask the electoral commission to investigate
Then on January 26 2021, Army spokesman General Zaw Min Tun (of the USDP) warns the government that armed forces will take action if the dispute isn’t settled. On January 28th, the electoral commission denies allegations of vote fraud claiming that there were no errors large enough or significant enough anomalies to affect the credibility of the vote. On January 30th, the Myanmar military warns the people and the National League for Democracy that it intends to protect and abide by the constitution and defend the law. Then early in the morning of February 1st the Military imposed a state of emergency and staged a coup. They seized the government from Aung San Suu Kyi and hand over the power to military general Min Aung Hlaing and place Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest - the streets have been silent out of fear of the military.
Sources
https://www.independent.co.uk/
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