Suu Kyi is all set for Europe tour this week
Myanmar democracy icon’s visit will mark a new milestone in the political changes that have swept through the country since decades of military rule
YANGON: Aung San Suu Kyi takes the latest stride in her journey from an imprisoned activist to a politician on the world stage when she visits Europe this week to give a Nobel speech two decades in the making.
The Myanmar democracy icon, who was under house arrest when she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, will leave tomorrow for Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Britain and France only her second overseas foray in 24 years.
For more than two decades Suu Kyi did not dare leave Myanmar — even to see her sons or British husband before his death from cancer in 1999 — fearing the generals who ruled the country would not let her return.
As well as the Nobel speech, she will speak at an International Labour Organisation conference, address Britain’s parliament and receive an Amnesty International human rights award in Dublin from rock star Bono.
New milestone
Her visit will mark a new milestone in the political changes that have swept through the country since decades of outright military rule ended last year, bringing to power a new quasi-civilian government.
President Thein Sein is credited for a series of dramatic changes including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, signing peace pacts with armed rebel groups and welcoming Suu Kyi’s party back into mainstream politics.
The former general now faces a major challenge at home from a wave of sectarian violence in western Rakhine state, where a state of emergency has been imposed in response to violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.
Suu Kyi, the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San, for her part has called for “sympathy” with minorities in the wake of the unrest.
In April the veteran activist won her first ever seat in parliament, prompting Western nations to start rolling back sanctions.
Suu Kyi will deliver a hugely symbolic lecture on June 16 in Oslo to accept the Nobel Prize, which thrust her onto the global stage and spurred decades of support for her party’s democratic struggle against authoritarian rule.
But the opposition leader may also inject a note of caution: on her first overseas trip in more than two decades, Suu Kyi this month warned world business leaders at a meeting in Bangkok against “reckless optimism” over the democratic reforms.
“She will want audiences in Europe to appreciate that the hard work of political reform and economic transformation has only just begun,” said Nicholas Farrelly, a research fellow at Australian National University.
The visit, which is scheduled to last until the end of June, will also allow Suu Kyi to burnish her credentials as an international figure after spending most of the last 22 years locked up in her Yangon lakeside villa.
“She could be the next leader of Myanmar, so she will want to reflect that profile,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, Southeast Asia expert at Kyoto University in Japan.
“For decades it’s been an easy issue for the West... Suu Kyi is the good guy resisting the evil generals. There’s been a huge amount of support for her principled stand,” said Gareth Price, an Asia expert at the Chatham House think - tank in London.
“But now things are changing. It is becoming more complex.”