Military holds keys to power
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar, May 3, (AFP): The Myanmar soldier, wearing his crisp green uniform, rifles through a box of T-shirts for a souvenir of his time in the country’s fledgling legislature — a deeply controversial position in the former junta-run nation on the cusp of key elections.
With a quarter of parliamentary seats and an effective veto on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s presidential hopes, unelected military men have a major role in the country’s delicate political transition, regardless of the result of landmark polls later this year.
Suu Kyi has said reforms are stalling and refuses to rule out a boycott of the election, expected in early November this year, as she fights to change the junta-era constitution which bars her from the top job.
Reluctant
While the army is reluctant to further relinquish its political leverage, observers say the hundreds of soldiers who have sat in parliament have been exposed to lively debate and compromise like never before.
“It is interesting,” the soldier told AFP of his experience in the legislature, asking not to be named.
“We serve here as a duty, appointed by the Tatmadaw (army),” he said, after finally selecting a T-shirt bearing a picture of the massive parliament building in the remote capital of Naypyidaw.
Myanmar’s army seized power in 1962 and ruled by force for nearly half a century, steering the formerly rich country into isolation and poverty.
Criticism was crushed, with bloody crackdowns on mass protests in 1988 and 2007, the jailing of hundreds of dissidents and draconian media censorship.
Dominated
In 2011 the country’s junta rulers dramatically stepped aside in favour of a quasi-civilian government, which has ushered in sweeping reforms despite remaining dominated by retired generals.
Those changes — including the release of political prisoners, untethering of the press and opening up of the economy — stunned the international community and lured in hordes of foreign investors.
An International Crisis Group report released in late April said the military “initiated the transition and continues to back it”.
But it said that while the army chief has pledged to ensure credible elections, its “expectations are unclear”. The army also retains significant powers, including control of key security ministries.
Suu Kyi, whose party is expected to sweep the elections, is ineligible for the presidency because the armydrafted constitution excludes those with foreign children from top office. Her two sons are British, as was her late husband.
The military has vowed to prevent major constitutional amendments.
It has the last say on charter changes because of rules that require more than a three-quarters majority for significant amendments.
And on these issues they will vote together. “When it comes to some things, some sections, we are organised,” military MP Brigadier General Htay Naing told AFP, in a rare interview at parliament recently.
But he said army MPs were entitled to vote freely on other matters.
The military contingent of MPs — selected by the army chief and shuffled periodically — had evolved over the years, he added.
“In the past, there were many young people. They didn’t understand much. Now we have more seniors and so they are more knowledgeable,” he said.
Also: YANGON: The United Nations Sunday urged Myanmar to ensure that journalists can report “without fear” during crucial general elections later this year as the former juntaruled nation marked World Press Freedom Day in Yangon.
The call comes amid international concerns that Myanmar is backtracking on media freedoms won since the country began emerging from outright military rule in 2011, after a slew of journalist arrests and the death of a freelance reporter in army custody last year.
“We urge authorities to make special efforts during the election period to ensure that the media community has free and full access, and reports freely without fear and intimidation from anyone,” said Sardar Umar Alam, head of the Myanmar office for the UN’s culture agency UNESCO.
Alam was speaking at an event coorganised by UNESCO and the ministry of information.