February 11, 2016 at 6:28 p.m.
Celebrate positive step in Myanmar
Editorial
History was made last week.
It was made quietly and without bloodshed, something that’s all too rare.
The newly-elected parliament of Myanmar took office. Candidates from the National League for Democracy had won in a landslide late last year.
But in Myanmar, winning in a landslide doesn’t always translate into taking office.
After all, more than a decade ago, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the country’s democracy movement, won an election only to be put under house arrest by the military junta that ruled the country.
But beginning back in late 2011, the situation began to change. And it evolved quickly.
Elections were scheduled and the NLD chose to take part. Prisoners held since student demonstrations in 1988 began to be released. In early 2012, the ruling government announced that it would transform the Public Scrutiny Board — the official censors — into a public relations and public information entity.
And the changes kept on coming.
What provided the spark for this stunning transformation?
Several factors have been at work.
Myanmar has watched other Asian countries embrace degrees of democracy and free market capitalism and soar to new heights. South Korea, Singapore and neighboring Thailand are all flourishing. Living standards have vastly improved.
Meanwhile, Myanmar, the country once known as Burma, was being left behind.
Its rulers, at the same time, had morphed from colonels and generals into politicians and bureaucrats and — more recently — into business moguls. They were smart enough to see that change — properly managed — was in their best interests.
Will the country continue to move in the right direction? That’s an open question. There are still enormous problems involving clashes with the ethnic population, particularly the Muslim population that has been targeted for violence by some Buddhist extremist groups.
And it’s entirely possible that a one-step-forward-two-steps-back scenario could develop. Getting people in positions of power and wealth to share that power and wealth is no easy task.
But history was made last week, and that’s worth savoring. — J.R.
It was made quietly and without bloodshed, something that’s all too rare.
The newly-elected parliament of Myanmar took office. Candidates from the National League for Democracy had won in a landslide late last year.
But in Myanmar, winning in a landslide doesn’t always translate into taking office.
After all, more than a decade ago, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the country’s democracy movement, won an election only to be put under house arrest by the military junta that ruled the country.
But beginning back in late 2011, the situation began to change. And it evolved quickly.
Elections were scheduled and the NLD chose to take part. Prisoners held since student demonstrations in 1988 began to be released. In early 2012, the ruling government announced that it would transform the Public Scrutiny Board — the official censors — into a public relations and public information entity.
And the changes kept on coming.
What provided the spark for this stunning transformation?
Several factors have been at work.
Myanmar has watched other Asian countries embrace degrees of democracy and free market capitalism and soar to new heights. South Korea, Singapore and neighboring Thailand are all flourishing. Living standards have vastly improved.
Meanwhile, Myanmar, the country once known as Burma, was being left behind.
Its rulers, at the same time, had morphed from colonels and generals into politicians and bureaucrats and — more recently — into business moguls. They were smart enough to see that change — properly managed — was in their best interests.
Will the country continue to move in the right direction? That’s an open question. There are still enormous problems involving clashes with the ethnic population, particularly the Muslim population that has been targeted for violence by some Buddhist extremist groups.
And it’s entirely possible that a one-step-forward-two-steps-back scenario could develop. Getting people in positions of power and wealth to share that power and wealth is no easy task.
But history was made last week, and that’s worth savoring. — J.R.
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