Democratization
The Process
Aung san Suu kyi's National League for Democracy won the 1990 electron with 82% of the seats in Parliament, thus starting the flow and desire of "democracy" in Burma.
Despite the huge majority of votes for the NLD, the military junta refused to recognize the election, and hand over power to the NLD.
Suu kyi is first placed under house arrest in 1989.
Her supporters and protesters clashed with the government, urging them to release Suu kyi. In 2010 after 15 years of on-and-off arrest, she was finally released and continues to serve as Myanmar's opposition leader, representing freedom and democracy. |
Steps Forward
Since then, many reforms have been made in attempts to strengthen Myanmar's economy as well as make steps towards democracy and freedom.
Problems Facing Democratization and Reform
Especially surrounding the Rohingya crisis and human rights issues, Myanmar's reforms and push for democracy is fatally flawed. According to many western leaders, Myanmar's potential democracy may be unreachable if these persecutions and denial of the violence to the Rohingya Muslims continue to take place.
EX: President Thein Sein remarks that the human rights abuses towards the Rohingya Muslims are a "pure fabrication."
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"I am a firm believer that any legitimate government has to be based on rule of law and a recognition that all people are equal under the law. And discrimination against the Rohingya or any other religious minority, I think, does not express the kind of country that Burma over the long term wants to be. And I know of no successful democracy in which sectarian or religious divisions are allowed to fester, or the people of different faiths are treated as second-class citizens. Ultimately, that is destabilizing to a democracy."
-President Barack Obama, November 14, 2014 in conference with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi