Editorial: Death of democracy in Myanmar

It will be tragic if Myanmar’s political future is to be dictated by the US-China geopolitics

Myanmar’s brief tryst with democracy has ended with the military takeover, a development that was not wholly unexpected. The democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been removed and emergency imposed. It is exactly a repeat of what happened in 1990 when the military seized power and imprisoned Suu Kyi, then a freshly-minted leader fighting for democracy and an emerging global symbol of resistance. After over three decades, the army has done it again. Now, it has justified the coup by alleging widespread voter fraud in a November general election that was won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), the party that in 2015 had established the first civilian government in half a century. The coup is a serious blow to democratic reforms in the country and came a few hours before Parliament was scheduled to meet for the first time since the NLD’s landslide win, viewed as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s fledgling democratic rule. Despite her tainted legacy, due to her complicit silence in the wake of brutal violence against the Rohingyas, her NLD still remains the pivotal civilian organising force in the country. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the 75-year-old leader spent the best part of two decades under house arrest during the previous military rule but her international reputation was severely damaged after she failed to stop the bloody crackdown on Rohingyas in 2017.

A key fallout of the disconcerting internal developments is that the army junta, with the backing from China, will seek a vice-like grip over the country and may not give any commitment for the restoration of democracy. This is bound to create a new set of challenges for India as Myanmar shares a long border with three north-eastern States. However, New Delhi must continue its diplomatic engagement and leverage its influence with the military junta to persuade it to commit to a timeline for restoration of multiparty democracy. It would be tragic if Myanmar’s political future is to be dictated by the US-China geopolitics. It is only through international oversight that the restoration of full civilian rule and a negotiated political settlement is possible in the country. Such a process would require the active participation of the United States, China, India and Bangladesh. Importantly, any settlement must involve granting official recognition to the Rohingyas as an integral part of the Myanmar society, allowing for a peaceful return of millions of refugees. Currently, a majority of them are living stateless in Bangladesh in inhospitable conditions. Anything short of this will be a disaster, which would further damage Myanmar’s vulnerable economic situation and plunge millions back into poverty. The Myanmar military junta should negotiate with the NLD and arrive at a peaceful settlement.

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