Suu Kyi gets to work cleaning up Myanmar
NLD sets example after election victory
KAWHMU: Aung San Suu Kyi took to the streets yesterday to pick up rubbish, a rare public appearance since her election triumph in a move aimed at highlighting her party’s commitment to public service.
Ms Suu Kyi told newly minted MPs from her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which took nearly 80% of contested seats in the Nov 8 polls, they are quite literally responsible for keeping their constituencies clean.
Rubbish is a huge problem in Myanmar, which lacks regular collection and proper landfill sites. Ms Suu Kyi seized on the issue as a way to hammer home the NLD’s drive to serve the people.
The 70-year-old led a team of party members and volunteers through her constituency of Kawhmu township on the outskirts of Yangon picking up litter.
Clutching a l arge white garbage bag and wearing protective gloves, Ms Suu Kyi rummaged through the dirt to pick up tangles of old plastic bags and other debris.
She did not speak to reporters except to tell them to stop taking photographs and start picking up litter.
Rubbish collection is “the first thing we can do to serve the people”, said Thet Thet Khine, a newly elected MP from Yangon.
“This is very fundamental and an important lesson to all MPs.”
Observers say the NLD will struggle to meet the soaring hopes of a long-suffering people seeking remedies for the nation’s economic and social problems.
New MPs will also have to learn the nuts and bolts of power and policy making and deliver on the party’s change narrative.
But Ms Suu Kyi can count on the enthusiasm of her supporters.
“We need a good leader who shows us how to live... when she says something, people are ready to perform. She does the work, she doesn’t just talk about it,” said Myo Aung, who joined the clean-up.
In the northern city of Mandalay, the NLD organised a rubbish collection drive and many people, from monks to city officials, pitched in.
“We will clean all of Mandalay. People are eager to help,” said lawmaker Zarni Aung.
The gesture follows news the United States partially eased economic sanctions against Myanmar by lifting trade restrictions prohibiting US companies from using some ports and airports in the Southeast Asian country for six months.
The State Department said the move is aimed at boosting trade between the two countries.
Washington designated companies with ties to Myanmar’s former military government as a target of US sanctions and had restricted US firms from using ports and airports controlled by such companies.
The US government indicated there is a possibility of extending the measure or further easing sanctions, saying it “will continue to review all of our policies in light of continued progress on a range of issues, including a full political transition to democratic civilian government, the peace process, respect for human rights of all Burma’s diverse people, including the Rohingya population and constitutional reforms”.
The NLD-led government is expected to launch in the spring following the country’s first fully democratic election in decades.