Editorial
Aung San Suu Kyi emerges into freedom
World will watch what role she plays in shaping Myanmar's future
The release of Aung San Suu Kyi from her long confinement is truly a triumph for people who have held faith in democracy not only in Myanmar but also across the world. It is also a tribute to the resilience and determination with which Ms. Suu Kyi has upheld her politics and her values since returning to her country in 1988. That she and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) were not allowed to take power after their massive victory at the elections held in 1990 remains a dark chapter in Myanmar's history. Had Ms. Suu Kyi been permitted to form the government, the face of her country would be a whole lot different, and positively too, by now and Myanmar would be playing its due role in the international community. Unfortunately, the people of Myanmar, despite the inspirational leadership provided by Aung San Suu Kyi even in her imprisonment, are yet to see pluralistic politics reshape the image of their country.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the world's newest prisoner of conscience to be freed and winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Peace, has been released without conditions. On the face of it, her freedom is clearly a fresh new beginning for her. Deep down, though, there is the continuing suspicion that the Myanmar military junta may yet find the ways and means or the excuses to clamp restrictions on her movements and expression of views. The fact that a military-supported political party has 'won' the 'elections' held recently does not quite convince people that the junta has suddenly changed its position on the ways in which it thinks the country should be run. One need only observe the facts. The question of why the junta decided to free its long-term prisoner without conditions may legitimately arise. The answer lies in the fact that the regime has of late come under great pressure from the international community over its treatment of Ms. Suu Kyi. It reckoned that a face-saving way out for it was to provide a semblance of representative government to the country. Of course, such a change does not at all alter the fact that the military remains the pivot around which politics is likely to move.
The challenges before Aung San Suu Kyi are therefore huge. She will need to move with great caution and yet steely determination. The idealist that she is, she knows that her freedom without accompanying political changes in Myanmar will mean little. The country needs to emerge from the isolation it has largely been in since General Ne Win's coup d'etat of 1962. The key to Myanmar's future lies with how much of a role Suu Kyi can play in the days ahead. For the junta, it is important that it follow up on the democracy leader's release with moves to engage with her on political change in Myanmar. If it believes Aung San Suu Kyi has now been rendered ineffective, it will be making a mistake. The spirited manner in which her freedom was welcomed in global capitals is a patent demonstration of how indispensable she remains to the future of Myanmar.
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