National League for Democracy (NLD) party leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends Myanmar’s first parliament meeting after the November 8 general elections at the Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw November 16 2015.
Advertisement
Another test: can NLD influence the military?
Winning Myanmar’s election turned out to be easier than expected for Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition party, but steering the country will be a test of how the Nobel Peace laureate balances her moral vision with political realities.
This time more than 6,000 candidates from a few 90 political parties took part in the elections, though the main election campaign was fought between the NLD and the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Thein Sein.
An Australian adviser to the NLD, Sean Turnell, told Bloomberg on November 11 that the new government will step up this program.
The reform of the military – which wields considerable influence in politics, business and other areas of Myanmar society under the constitution – into a law-abiding, professional body that is exclusively responsible for national defense is another challenge facing the nation’s democratization efforts.
Among those soldiers were reformers like President Thein Sein and his team of “super ministers”, who sought worldwide help to overhaul of an economy shackled by sanctions and decades of corruption and inept military rule. Twenty five percent of all parliamentary seats are awarded to unelected military officials meaning the NLD will need to co-operate with its former antagonist. “That is called democracy”, Thein Sein said.
“We’ll be damned if we do, and we’ll be damned if we don’t”, said Win Htein, a senior NLD leader, adding that standing up for the Rohingya would give the ANP “ample reason to criticize the NLD”. The military, which has enjoyed lavish funding in the past, is unlikely to adopt a policy of austerity-for itself at least-in the upcoming budget.
To many ethnic leaders, the NLD’s approach already seems high-handed.
More challenging still for the NLD will be reaching an end to fighting that has killed thousands on the country’s periphery in recent years. Though by 1995 ceasefire agreements had been concluded with several armed groups, they have failed to address the issues underlying the conflicts – namely the imposition of a majority Burmese and Buddhist identity on the minorities and the lack of decentralisation of power and equitable distribution of resources.
New Delhi has to invest much more in making up for lost ground with the NLD, while not discontinuing security-based exchanges with the Myanmar Army. By reserving 25 percent of parliamentary seats for its appointees, the military has ensured that it has a veto over all changes to the constitution, which require a 75 percent vote in favour.
“The question is what the relationship will be like between the NLD and the military, and how the relationship is perceived by the armed groups”, Horsey said.
Yet, towards the later part of ruthless rule by a military junta from 1988 to 2011, India deliberately sidled up to Myanmar’s Army to counter anti-India secessionist militant groups sheltering across the border.
Advertisement
“We will have to try very hard”.
