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Burma Digest Current Issue

Detaining Daw Aung San Suu Kyi: A Perilous Exercise by the Myanmar Junta

            Once again the Burmese junta has extended the detention of opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  Once again the Burman generals have just shown that they do not have yet to take heed of the calls to free Daw Suu by Western and ASEAN international communities.  Once again the Burmese opposition’s cautious optimism has turned to sour cynicism.  The responses so far by Burma watchers range from hope of harsh and binding resolutions against Myanmar regime by the UN Security Council to suggestions that it is time the opposition begin walking with the road map to democracy laid down by the military junta. 

            Rather than seeing Daw Suu and her party National League for Democracy (NLD) as mere opposition, the Myanmar junta State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has been treating them as adversaries for the past seventeen years.  Besides universal tensions between democracy and authoritarianism, there remain unresolved practical differences between the NLD and the SPDC.  The country’s name itself is a matter of controversy between the ruling junta and the opposition.  Burmese people’s uprising in 1988 has been glorified by the opposition but it has been repeatedly debased by the SPDC.  Whereas the opposition hopes that the 1990 elections victory of the NLD would still be honoured, the SPDC leaders have embarked on the project of writing a new constitution which will lead to new elections in the remote future.  At the inception of the NLD in 1989, the junta had accused that the opposition party had been manipulated by the communists.  In the post September 11 world, the NLD has been alleged of having links with terrorists.  The NLD has bent down substantially over the recent months.  In February this year, the opposition party proposed that, in order for the military junta to be recognized as de jure government, the SPDC convene the people’s parliament (Pyithu Hluttaw) composed of elected representatives from the 1990 elections.  The last thing the junta wish to do is to look back and acknowledge the NLD elections victory even if it could legitimate their status.  The proposal has been rudely ignored.  At the same time, the military’s systematic sabotage against the NLD has taken its toll on the organizing capacity of the party.

            On top of all the differences between the SPDC and the NLD is the issue of Daw Suu herself.  Whereas the opposition pins their hope of democratization of Burma on the Lady, the SPDC has made it clear that she is not suitable for Burma, at present or in the future.  Simply the junta does not know how to handle the Lady.  The irony of all this is that the whole bunch of battle-hardened soldiers are being kept under constant pressure by one petite lady.  Contrary to what they claim, the junta is most aware that the safety and security of the world’s foremost human rights activist is not just a ‘domestic issue.’  Unlike other ordinary Burmese people, the Nobel laureate has enjoyed substantial immunity due to international concern for her wellbeing.  They cannot force her into exile.  They cannot torture her, save psychologically.  They cannot lock her up forever and make her diminish into oblivion, like they do to hundreds of other prisoners of conscience. 

            Above all, they cannot break her spirit.  Daw Suu is known for her uncompromising morals and political integrity.  As such she is not likely to negotiate with the junta for any conditional release.  She has been the most vocal critic of the incompetence of the SPDC whenever freedom was permitted to her.  Her sharp critiques of the junta has stung the generals severely but they have been very popular among the Burmese people who need someone to speak out for them.  She remains the only person in Burma who has courage as well as capability to denounce the military misrule publicly.  Thus keeping her incommunicado for a while more may appear to be the most pragmatic short-term solution for the SPDC.  However, continued detention of Daw Suu will not pay.  The SPDC’s incarceration of Daw Suu and other political prisoners, along with its wiping out of ethnic population and other forms of human rights violation, are testing the strength of international justice, which has been under severe criticism.  If the Western world is willing and committed, and if they can persuade China and Russia, Burma will provide a good opportunity for the UN to reclaim its face. 

            Domestically speaking, detaining Daw Suu will not do any good for the junta since they are responsible for her wellbeing.  If something untoward happens to her in custody, the hope of national reconciliation between the NLD and the SPDC will be vanished forever.  Besides, the junta should realize that her continued detention only adds to her charisma and popularity.  It also heightens the sense of anticipation and anxiety inside and outside Burma.  Detention will not make her irrelevant in Burma’s politics.  On the contrary, it enables the Lady to show her unwavering spirit and garner more support for her cause domestically and internationally.  Despotic regimes necessarily act arbitrarily and they are not likely to play along the line of international politics or dissidents’ wishful thinking.  Nonetheless the SPDC leaders, who obviously have less time left for themselves than Daw Suu does for herself and her country, should start thinking more rationally and realistically this time.  They should begin a dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to settle their differences as soon as possible. 

Ko Ko Thett

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Comments

David Law said _

Dear Ko Thet, you article really describes the situation and the ramifications the generals have brought upon themselves. It is quite accurate what you have written.
But let me add on a corollary, like in Geometry when we were in high school.
I think SPDC will not talk with DASSK because they have no moral basis and they are afraid they will lose in any public dialog.  Besides, I really think they want to keep her imprisoned because they want to act difficult (like the Myauk monkey North Koreans).  This way, the US and the West will have to offer concessions.  Gambari was talking about arranging for some economic development packages when he came back from Rangoon.  It is not enough.  The SPDC is holding their prices up.
They will not settle for just an aid package, but they want a lot more. Furthermore, they are detaining DASSK so that while all the world is focused on her, they can continue to destroy both the NLD and the KNU completely.
Thus, they have these above 3 things to achieve and they are using our DASSK as a tool.
We need to write articles to make the UN and the West aware of these issues.

U Myo Nyunt (Myanmarmyo) said _

Dear Ko Ko Thett, thank you. Your basic premise is that  Daw Aung San Su Kyi  is  Burma. The  existing state and government of Myanmar, and the  SPDC authorities considers that Myanmar  is the  country, nation and there is  no  Aung San Su Kyi of  Myanmar. The  52 million of  Myanmar (Burma)  constitutes  Myanmar and  though Daw Aung San Su Kyi is rightfully the  most important leader and a  iconic person for the  Burmese people, there are  contenders that  disagree. The present is as History. Myanmar (Burma) is still in the making.  The test of time, and the unfolding of "power dynamics" in Asia and the  global political economy of change will determine the destiny of the Burmese people. To live and prosper as humans, with dignity and self respect. Towards Peace, Stability and Progress/prosperity in Myanmar( Burma).

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