Rakhine State’s chief minister says it will take more than one five-year term under the NLD-led government to bring the state’s divided Buddhist and Muslim communities together again.
“It is impossible to unite them at once. We will have to do it step by step,” U Nyi Pu told The Myanmar Times in an interview in Sittwe.
“So we need to give the process a lot of time. Therefore we cannot say it can be accomplished in our five-year term,” he said.
Although his comments appeared to represent a desire by his administration to end policies of enforced segregation, they reflect a reluctance to move quickly because of pressures the National League for Democracy is facing in Rakhine State where the party is leading a minority government. More widely across Myanmar, nationalists – including prominent Buddhist monks – have also shown they do not intend to give up their anti-Muslim platforms used for attacks on the NLD.
There is also the issue of how much latitude U Nyi Pu has been given by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in setting policies as critical as reintegration. The state counsellor has said little in public on the issue. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
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