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Burmese Days |
Friday, 29 June 2012 18:07 |
The changes underway in Burma are so dramatic that it is hard to assess the situation clearly. Here is a quick attempt.
Some history
The UK granted Burma independence in 1948. It became a parliamentary democracy, and was considered to be the South East Asia country with the brightest future. Under British rule, it had been the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia, was the world's largest exporter of rice, produced 75 per cent of the world's teak, and had a highly literate population. The military took over in 1958. A military coup followed in 1962, whose government pursued an extreme policy of internal socialism and external isolationism. A popular uprising in 1988 brought to power a new group of generals who wanted to abandon these policies. They held an election in 1990 which was won by Aung San Suu Kyi's party (the National League for Democracy -- NLD). She was placed under house arrest, the election results were disavowed, and the country's name was changed to Myanmar in 1989. The US and most other Western countries imposed sanctions. Most neighboring Asian countries pursued a policy of engagement, especially China which developed very close economic and political ties. Burma was brought into ASEAN in 1997. Elections were held on 7 November 2010, but the NLD refused to participate. A nominally civilian president, Thein Sein, was appointed -- he is in fact a former general. Surprisingly, he has had a wide-sweeping reform agenda, including the release of some political prisoners, preliminary peace agreements with some armed ethnic groups, anti-corruption campaign, exchange rate reform, opening up to foreign investment, a reduction in media censorship, and constitutional changes to allow registration of political parties and leaders from the opposition. Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest on 13 November 2010. Notwithstanding these impressive measures, economic reform has greatly lagged political reform. The NLD then stood in by-elections in April this year, in which it won 43 of 45 seats, including one seat by Aung San Suu Kyi. She has been permitted to travel to an international conference in Thailand and made a trip to Europe where she was finally able to personally accept her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Western countries have responded very quickly with promises to lift sanctions. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Burma in |