Myanmar: Political history
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
The 1930s -2015: a brief history
The Times of India, Nov 16 2015
1990 polls annulled 2 yrs later
What happened in Myanmar during the Second World War?
Burma (now Myanmar) was a province of the British Indian empire and many of the policies of the government, tilted towards its colonial interest in India, were unpopular in the country . By the 1930s, Thakin Nu and Aung San emerged as the leaders of the nationalist move ment. The widespread student and peasant protests forced the British government to separate Burma from India in 1937.At the beginning of the Second World War, the British government tried to arrest Aung San, who escaped to China and j escaped to China and joined hand with the Japanese, forming the Burma Independence Army . By 1942, the Japanese occupied the country and both Aung San and Thakin Nu were given important positions in the government. A year later, when the Japanese sensed defeat, they declared Myanmar a sovereign state but ruled it with the help of their military . Aung San contacted Lord Mountbatten and offered his cooperation. In May 1945, the Japanese army was defeated and the country came under British control.
What caused instability during Myanmar's trans ition to independence?
After 1945, members of the pre-war government de manded that Aung San be tri ed as a traitor. But Aung San was popular and seen as the person who spearheaded ne gotiations for the country's independence. He was appointed the deputy chairman of the executive council of Burma, a transition government established by the British. In July 1947, political rivals assassinated Aung San and many other cabinet members. After its independence on January 4, 1948, Burma witnessed demo cratic rule for a brief period of four years when Sao Shwe Thaik became the president and Thakin Nu was appoin ted the country's first PM.
But the economy was in dis array and internal strife had yet not ended.
The communists, some of Aung San's veterans and the people of the Karen ethnic group turned insurgents. In March 1962, Ne Win led a mili tary coup and established a `socialist' state by abolishing the 1947 constitution.
What was the `8888' uprising?
The Ne Win regime destroyed the Burmese economy and resulted in the country becoming one of the world's most impoverished regions.Around August 1988, a student protest in Yangon started spreading across the country and on August 8, 1988 (the date which gives the uprising its name) it was joined by people from almost all sections of Burmese society . Security forces cracked down brutally and general Saw Maung found it an apt opportunity to stage a coup. He established the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and in 1989 declared martial law. Because of mounting public pressure, the Maung government held free elections in May 1990 in which the National league for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi (Aung San's daughter) emerged as a clear winner. Maung annulled the election and put Suu Kyi under house arrest. In April 1992, Maung resigned on health grounds and was replaced by Than Shwe.
Nov 2015: NLD’s historic victory
The Times of India, Nov 14 2015
Suu Kyi's party wins historic majority in Myanmar polls
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party attained a historic majority in Myanmar's Parliament on Friday , making it possible for them to form the Southeast Asian country's first truly civilian government in more than half a century . While complete results from last Sunday's elections will take more time to be tallied, the state election commission announced that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party had won 37 additional seats -pushing it over the threshold of 329 seats needed for a majority in the two-house Parliament.
The party with a combined parliamentary majority is able to select the next president, who can then name a Cabinet and form a new government.The 329 figure represents a majority in the 664-member parliament because voting was not held in seven constituencies due to unrest. The ruling military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has won just 40 seats so far. The handover should take place after the new Parliament meets early next year and votes on a new president, along with two vice-presidents.
The NLD will face a variety of challenges, not least of which is the huge tide of pentup expectations evidenced by he vote. Its lack of experience n public administration is another big question mark.
But the victory is a sweet econd chance for the party , which also won a landslide vic ory in the first election it con ested, in 1990, only to see the results annulled by the military, and many of its leading members harassed and jailed Few expect the army to throw up that kind of roadblock again. It is committed to the economic opportunities of a newly globalized country that encourages foreign trade and investment, and has written provisions into the constitution that guarantee it a lea ding role in running the country. The military automatically receives 25% of the seats in each house of Parliament.Another major issue for the NLD will be dealing with the fractious ethnic minorities, who have been conducting onagain, off-again insurgencies seeking greater autonomy .
