Photo from Oxlaey.com photo stream:
It has been slightly more than a month since the landmark parliamentary elections were held in Myanmar. In this personal dispatch, Sue Anne Teo, RWI’s programme officer in Myanmar, shares some thoughts about the situation in the country.
Newspapers worldwide reported widely on the November 8 elections, its freest and fairest in 25 years, which saw the National League for Democracy’s (‘NLD’) landslide victory as one heralding a much needed change for Myanmar.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s party swept close to 80% of the contested seats in both houses of parliament and also dominated the state and regional seats. The previous ruling party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (‘USDP’), lost badly and so did many ethnic parties. While the win came as no surprise, the scale of it threw some off guard, especially the fact that many ethnic minority parties did not gain as many seats as they had hoped for.
Having spent the past 50 years prior to 2010 in isolation from the rest of the world, one may now be tempted to ask, is democracy really back on track in Myanmar? With a party known for its human rights stance slated to take power by March 2016, is it still necessary to focus our work on human rights?
One may be tempted to reach the conclusion that the work is done now that NLD will assume power in the next government. However, it is but the beginning of real change in Myanmar. The real work begins here and now.
It cannot be denied that over the past five years, the quasi-civilian government had passed many laws which steered it in a more favourable human rights direction compared to when the country was under military rule. These ranged from, amongst others, the opening up the media space, setting up a national human rights commission and allowing for more freedom of assembly and expression.
However, implementation on the ground during this period was problematic. While these changes were pushed through, there was a lack of understanding by those meant to carry out these duties to respect human rights and to fully understand their new roles.
A case in point is the handling of the student protests of the National Education Law by the police force. The latter were accused of using excessive force to disperse the students, a practice reminiscent of high-handed practices prevalent during the junta’s rule. These changes were also pushed through largely using a top-down approach, with public consultations on draft laws coming at a late stage or never at all.
As such, the way forward for Myanmar involves further human rights training and exposure to those meant to carry out their duties to promote and protect human rights. It also involves inclusion. The peace process has so far paid scant attention to the involvement of women in the peace talks, a practice which must soon change should one wish for lasting peace. Minorities are still being discriminated as hate speech gains ground, making certain segments of the community vulnerable to threats of violence and deprivation of basic rights such as schooling and healthcare.
While we celebrate the dawn of democracy in Myanmar, the reality on the ground is sobering. Many of those who will assume their new law-making roles in parliament have had no prior experience. The national reconciliation process is also a key challenge for the new government, considering the fact that the purported ‘nationwide’ ceasefire agreement signed on 15 October was shunned by many major actors. It remains to be seen how these actors can be engaged in political dialogues. The fact that the Constitution reserves 25% of parliamentary seats for the military means that they essentially have a veto power over constitutional changes. Conflict is still raging in the central and northern regions of Shan State and parts of Kachin state and political prisoners are still in jail.
In the end, continued engagement to ensure inclusive democracy and a full respect for the human rights of all remain key ingredients for Myanmar’s transition to a full democracy.
RWI has been working in Myanmar since 2012, partnering with the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and in 2014, expanded into working with universities on human rights education.