by ABRO,
The National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar, led by Nobel peace
laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has won the majority of available seats in
Parliament according to the official results released by the Myanmar election
commission. International observers
claim that after 50 years of military rule, this is a “Transition to
Democracy”. This article will explain
why such claim is a Grand Delusion.
Despite this victory, the shadow of military dictator “retired” Senior
General Than Shwe hangs over Myanmar. Not surprisingly, the so called
“democratic” constitution crafted by the former military dictatorship in 2008,
continues to serve the interests of the Junta.
Myanmar’s military dictators have found alternative ways to camouflage
military dictatorship as “civilian government”.
They have succeeded in creating this illusion by changing their
uniforms, forming a mock parliament and their own political party USDP (Union
Solidarity and Development Party) from USDA (Union Solidarity Development
Association) and creating an unamendable constitution. During the military dictatorship, USDA was an
association lead by government officials with many of its members coerced into
joining the association. Than Shwe
appointed ex-military General Thein Sein as leader of USDP and President of
Myanmar in November 2010. According to
the constitution, 25% of parliamentary seats have to be reserved for
representatives of the military.
Constitutional amendments can only be made if more than 75% of the
members agree to the changes.
The election commission itself has been appointed by military generals
with a former lieutenant-general acting as commissioner. As this commission blithely released results
indicating Aung San Suu Kyi as leader of the winning party should rightfully be
President, legislation introduced by Than Shwe’s military regime in 2008 bars a
democratically elected leader like Suu Kyi who has foreign relatives (her late
husband and her two sons are British Citizens) from becoming President. Even if to circumvent this law, Suu Kyi
nominates someone to take her place as President, her nominee will be
answerable to the National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) who have the
authority to override certain decisions made by the President. There is almost no escape from military rule
in Than Shwe’s constitutional labyrinth with at least 5 of the 11 NDSC members
having to be appointed by the Military Commander in Chief who in turn has to be
appointed by the NDSC.
Just before the election held on 8th of November 2015, the Thein Sein
government announced that the release of the official election results will be
delayed indefinitely and power would be handed to the winner of the election by
February next year. These delays give
Thein Sein and his military backers further leeway to maintain or strengthen
their power base regardless of the election result. After receiving the news of her election win,
Aung San Suu Kyi is reported to have already sent letters to Thein Sein and he
has not replied to any of these letters.
There are also reports that Thein Sein’s representative said that, until
the election commission has resolved all complaints regarding the election results,
talks with the NLD leader will not happen.
So how do minorities fare in this “democratic” election? Aung San Suu
Kyi’s NLD party has not contested in some constituencies in the Shan, Kachin
and Chin states, as well as other areas of Myanmar which are under military
control. One of the reasons being, the
current government has used “security reasons” to prevent elections from being
conducted in many of these areas. In
Arakan state, the Rakhine National Development Party’s (RNDP) leader Dr. Aye
Maung, the main perpetrator of violence against the Rohingya and other Muslim
groups, has made a clean sweep in the election with the Myanmar government
barring 1.3 million Rohingya and other Muslim groups from voting. This provides him with further opportunity to
accelerate the expulsion of the entire Muslim community from the state.
The poster child of democracy herself, Ms. Suu Kyi, has taken sides
with the majority, ignoring the minorities who have been supporting her for
decades. Her party has ethnically
cleansed itself of all Muslim members ahead of the election. For the first time in the history of Myanmar,
there will be no Muslim parliamentarians.
At this moment in time, the person who courageously fought for freedom
and rights against Myanmar’s military dictatorship is fearful of losing
majority support. It therefore follows
that recent changes in the country are possible signs of the tyrannical rule of
the military ending for the majority Buddhist people alone with the pathway to
“freedom” being paved exclusively for them.
The exclusion of the entire Muslim community including Rohingya, is a
stereotype of ‘majority representative democracy’ or one could even call this
aberration a ‘Muslim-free democracy’.
Myanmar’s “democratic transition” is simply ‘old wine in a new bottle’
produced by General Than Shwe and his cohorts.
As the western nations throw their support behind these cosmetic changes
they turn a blind eye to the ongoing genocide, the wars in northern and eastern
Myanmar and the detention of political prisoners.
The perpetuation of this Grand Delusion of “Democracy” comes at a
horrific cost to the people of Myanmar, particularly the Rohingya of Arakan
state.
Call to Action:
1) The International Criminal Court (ICC) should investigate the
ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide across Myanmar.
2) International communities should create a safe zone for Rohingya people and establish an independent Rohingya state within Arakan state while the central
rulers, authorities and majority ethnic/religious group continues to segregate
and push out the Rohingya people.
3) According to the responsibility to protect, the UN and its member
countries should enforce appropriate conditions that ensure aid delivery reach
the hands of victims on the ground in Arakan state, Shan state, Kachin state
and other areas.
4) Myanmar should immediately and unconditionally release all
political prisoners and thousands of Rohingya detained in and outside Arakan
state.
5) Myanmar should immediately stop waging wars in Shan, Kachin states
and other areas.
6) Myanmar should immediately cease segregation, discrimination and
ethnic cleansing against Rohingya and other minorities including those from 42
concentration camps in Arakan state.
7) Myanmar should immediately lift the blockade on international aid supply
in Arakan state, Shan state, Kachin state and other areas.
For media contact:
Habib +(61) 406 310077
For media contact:
Habib +(61) 406 310077
