After nearly 50 years of being ruled as a military dictatorship, Myanmar began its transition
towards a democratic government in 2010.
Now, the country is seeing a general election, which may just threaten the remaining military
power controlling the quasi-democracy.
So we wanted to know, is Myanmar going through a political revolution?
To bring you up to speed: Myanmar has been marred by severe human rights abuses, including
violence against Muslim minority groups, and a long-time crackdown on political dissent.
The current opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was placed under house arrest for a total
of fifteen years, while her party gained popularity against the military status quo.
During the country’s first, post-junta, general election in 2010, Suu Kyi was barred
from running.
Her party boycotted the election, leading to the instatement of former military commander,
Thein Sein, as President.
The UN and a number of western countries have called the 2010 election unfair and fraudulent.
Today, a number of similar issues still exist.
Although Suu Kyi is free, the country’s post-military constitution prevents her from
serving as President.
Article 59 states that anyone with family who pledges allegiance to another country
cannot become President or Vice President.
And…
Suu Kyi’s two children are foreign citizens.
However, her party has promised to contest the prohibition in this election, if her party
wins enough parliamentary seats.
The constitution also allocates a quarter of parliamentary seats to the military, making
it much harder to transition away from a military junta towards a free democracy.
But it isn’t just Suu Kyi and others who cannot stand as candidates; many Muslims in
Myanmar, including the most persecuted people in the world, Rohingya Muslims, are ineligible
to vote.
They are not accepted as citizens by the predominantly Buddhist government, and have seen extreme
violence - displacing hundreds of thousands.
Some 760,000 people may be prevented from voting after not being reissued registration
cards on the basis of their ethnicity and religion.
Although some are calling this election Myanmar’s latest attempt at freedom and democracy, it
is clear that there are severe imbalances preventing significant forward progress.
Until all of Myanmar’s people can vote, and until the military is separated from the
internal workings of its government, it is doubtful that the country will achieve its
future goals.
Rohingya Muslims face widespread oppression at the hands of Myanmar’s Buddhist government,
but why?
Watch our video to find out.
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