The resounding victory of the National League for Democracy in the November general election has raised hopes in Myanmar and around the world that, finally, the country could be on the road towards peace and democracy. Sadly, there have been too many failures in the past for simple optimism now. During the past half-century, there have been important highpoints before when expectations were raised that the national armed forces, known as Tatmadaw, would restore democratic rights to the people and nationwide peace might spread in the country.
In recent memory, the 1988 pro-democracy summer, the 1989 ethnic ceasefires, the NLD’s 1990 election victory and the 2007 Saffron Revolution all appeared to herald epoch-shaping changes in the national landscape. But on each occasion, the weeks turned into months as the military authorities prevented socio-political transition from taking place through a combination of obfuscation, repression and delay. Meanwhile armed conflict continued in the ethnic borderlands. The result has been that a Tatmadaw-dominated status quo has continued in many aspects of government and national life until the present day.
Despite such precedents, the early sense is much stronger this time that a sustainable change for the better should be possible in the landscape of national politics following the NLD victory. Such sentiment is widespread in both Myanmar and abroad. Although serious challenges remain, Myanmar is undoubtedly a more liberal and open place than it was when the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein assumed office four years ago. The benefits have been quickly obvious, and there is generally deeper acceptance and discussion within the country of the scale of difficulties to be addressed in the achievement of national peace and democracy. (Courtesy of Transnational Institute)
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