After 54 years, Myanmar enters democratic era
Nation swears in leaders in free elections, but it still faces long road
YANGON, MYANMAR After more than five decades of isolation and repressive military rule, Myanmar swore in hundreds of lawmakers Monday in its first freely elected parliament.
The inaugural session marked the start of a new era for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, which has been under army control since 1962.
The session follows an election Nov. 8 that saw Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party win two-thirds of available parliamentary seats and effectively rout the country’s military leaders. Suu Kyi won a landslide election in 1990 that was later annulled by the military.
Myanmar still faces a long road to full democracy. The military retains 25% of seats in parliament, giving it a veto over constitutional changes. It still controls key sectors of the economy and ministries such as Defense, Interior and Border Affairs. In addition, the army can take over the government under emergency legislation.
“Ruling Myanmar is going to put (the National League for Democracy party) in its most difficult position yet.”
Evan Rees, Southeast Asia analyst
Parliament will pick a new president over the next few weeks, but Suu Kyi is barred from the post because her children are foreign nationals.
Suu Kyi said she will serve “above” the president, but it’s not clear how much influence she will wield over the new president. Despite its strong electoral mandate, the inexperienced legislature will have to prove that it can effectively govern in an arena previously dominated by army-backed candidates.
“The NLD has spent over a quarter-century on the sidelines or in hiding, but ruling Myanmar is going to put it in its most difficult position yet,” said Evan Rees, Southeast Asia analyst for Stratfor, a global intelligence and advisory firm.
“The military is doubling down in parliament right now, choosing seasoned lawmakers and highranking officers to lead its bloc. This contrasts with the NLD, which has few experienced lawmakers to choose from,” he said.
Outgoing President Thein Sein hailed the transition as a “triumph” and pledged to cooperate with the government of Suu Kyi, who spent 15 years under house arrest for defying the nation’s military rulers.
There is no shortage of challenges facing the impoverished Southeast Asian country, which is blighted by corruption after years of neglect by the military rulers and torn by ethnic civil wars and religious strife.
Though Suu Kyi has pledged to make peace with armed ethnic groups a priority of her administration, she has been largely silent on the persecution of minority Rohingya Muslims in western Rakhine state. They are not recognized as citizens and are subject to discriminatory policies that restrict their access to work, travel, health care and education.