Myanmar: Several Endings, No Clear Beginnings

Summary

Six years of detention ended in July 1995 for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the political party that won Myanmar's last competitive election. U Nu, the independent nation's first and last democratically elected Prime Minister, died in February. Back in January, the longest running insurgency lost its head- quarters when the Karen National Union (KNU) was driven from Manerplaw. By the year's end the best financed insurgency, Khun Sa's opium-fuelled Mong Tai Army, officially surrendered in the Shan States. Such events mark significant endpoints on several dimensions in the political sphere. New beginnings, on the other hand, were not in evidence; political developments generally followed their established inertial course. No fundamentally new forms of political discourse emerged. Aung San Suu Kyi remained the principal leader of the democracy movement, interacting with the ruling junta in large part via international media. There was some movement at the top of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) government, but the leadership style and the composition of the ruling junta remained essentially the same as before. The SLORC-appointed National Constitutional Convention lumbered on towards its fourth year of sys- tematic and desultory sessions. At the international level, questions of legitimacy persisted with no clear resolution. The “constructive engagement” embrace by neighbouring nations continued Myanmar's progression toward membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

In the economic sphere, growth continued and marketizing policies remained on track. Many fresh foreign investments were announced, several projects were launched, and a number of recently established enterprises proceeded on course. Time and a shifting international climate appeared to be easing the restraint on bilateral and multilateral economic assistance. The interplay between developments in politics and economics was much debated both within and outside the country.

Leading Personages

Several of the dramatis personae moved off the political stage in the course of 1995. Others shifted position during changes of scene.