Burma, or Myanmar as it was called by the military junta in 1989 to distance from the British colonial name, is a country on the verge of a change that dreamt for decades.
A regime effectively rules Burma since 1962. In 1988, as a consequence of the economical debacle and the catastrophic failure of the so-called "Burmese way to Socialism" people asked for a democratic transition. The 8888 uprising asked for the reforms that the corrupted junta never made. The protest was...
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Burma, or Myanmar as it was called by the military junta in 1989 to distance from the British colonial name, is a country on the verge of a change that dreamt for decades.
A regime effectively rules Burma since 1962. In 1988, as a consequence of the economical debacle and the catastrophic failure of the so-called "Burmese way to Socialism" people asked for a democratic transition. The 8888 uprising asked for the reforms that the corrupted junta never made. The protest was sedated in violence, the army killed thousands.
It was also when Aung San Suu Kyi started her rise as leader of a new party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). Daughter of Aung San, the national hero behind the achievement of Burma independence at the end of the second world war killed few months after. Her daughter, Suu Kyi, was only two years old.
Aung San Suu Kyi becomes the face of hope for the Burmese people. Sadly, the first free elections in decades, in 1990, won by the NLD with a large margin (80% of the seats) were ignored by the junta that refused to hand over power, banned the party and imprisoned its members.
From those times, Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 15 of the following 20 years at house arrest. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights".
In recent times, 2010 elections abide the constitution approved in 2008. They were boycotted by the NLD on the basis that the new law is still designed to favour the army. The electoral outcome saw the formation of a civil government lead by the Union Solidarity and Development Party, a group formed by ex army members. Thein Sein, a former general and PM in the previous 3 years, was elected president of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
This 2012 side elections the NLD was admitted to the suffrage and re-registered as a party.
Hints of a democratisation process appeared. The Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, was freed from house imprisonment and allowed to campaign for the first time in decades.
The symbols and the red flag of the NLD, with the golden fighting peacock and the white star, are tolerated and they shyly begin to appear along photos of Aung San Suu Kyi and her father. They were prohibited and, until few months ago, anyone exhibiting would have been in serious troubles.
Today Burma looks like a country in the transition. From a long era of fear to a moment of euphoria.
The landslide victory of the NLD at the side elections, 43 of the 44 seats, generated an outburst of joy and excitement that involves the whole population: from the kids to the elders, from the workers to the monk happiness is palpable in the streets of any city and village.
Despite Burma has huge challenges to face in the future and it is, in fact, still controlled by the army, the presence in the parliament of 43 members of the NLD including its Nobel Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, does make everything look as a bright light at the end of what seemed an endless, dark tunnel.
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