On Nov. 13, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader, was released after seven years of isolation in her lakeside home. The military government has kept her confined under house arrest for 15 of the past 20 years. A few days after her recent release, Suu Kyi filed papers with the country’s High Court asking to have her party, the National League for Democracy, reinstated. Only time will tell what type of impact her new presence will have in the country, but, in the meantime, I had the rare opportunity to ask Mr. Kyaw Thein Kha, a reporter for the Irrawaddy Online Magazine, a few questions regarding these recent developments:
1) What are the Burmese community’s sentiments in response to Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s release?
Burmese people who have been in hunger of human rights and democracy for decades see that Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is good for the Burmese military regime to start the national reconciliation process by holding tri-talks between Aung San Suu Kyi, the army leaders and the ethnic leaders. But, we wonder if the stubborn military leaders would want to do that.
2) What factors do you believe led to her release?
I believe that the military leader Senior General Than Shwe released Suu Kyi because of the following possible points:
(1) Than Shwe might think that Suu Kyi will not be able to intervene in the election that was held on 7th November 2010 prior to Suu Kyi’s release on 13th November 2010.
(2) On the other side, the UN, U.S., E.U. and ASEAN had reportedly called on the military regime to release Suu Kyi from the house arrest.
(3) The release of Suu Kyi will help the military leaders to show their faces bravely to the international community in dignity. (But, we still have over 2,000 political prisoners that need to be released unconditionally.)
(4) Although Than Shwe knows that the release of Suu Kyi will change the fear of the public into courage to fight against them (military group), he decided to release her because of the three conditions mentioned above.
3) What significance does her release mean for the future of Burma?
Her release leads to national reconciliation between Burmese military regime and ethnic groups, including ethnic armed groups that didn’t accept the regime’s Border Guard Force (BGF) plan.
4) How likely is it that the National League for Democracy (NLD) will gain official recognition in Burma?
On [Nov. 18], NLD’s lawyers went to the supreme court trial in Nay Pyidaw regarding to official recognition of party’s existence in the country, but no result has been announced by the court.
5) In the past, Ms. Suu Kyi has been released and then detained again. Do you believe that her freedom will last?
That’s the point we (all of Suu Kyi’s supporters) are really concerned about at this moment. It’s unpredictable what the military junta will do. The government-supported thugs and other bad street [persons] can harm her anytime. We all have learned about that from Depayin assassination attempt on Suu Kyi in May 30, 2003.
6) Other general reactions or thoughts on this issue?
We believe that only Suu Kyi is a true leader who can solve the problems of Burma, such as human rights abuses across the country by the military regime and conflicts between ethnic armed groups and military groups. So, tri-talks are really needed to lead the national reconciliation. On [Nov. 14], one day after she [was] released, Suu Kyi said that national reconciliation is [the] priority among what she has to do after [her release].
Kyaw Thein Kha is a Burmese reporter for the Irrawaddy Online Magazine and is based in Thailand. He has a background in economics and engineering and has served as a Burmese/English translator, including for Al Jazeera. Thein Kha will be studying Documentary Film Making at the New York Film Academy beginning in 2011.
A version of this article appeared in print in the December 2010 issue of the Bridge.
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