Professional Documents
Culture Documents
June 2010
The social and humanitarian consequences 1988 was a year of seismic events that wit-
have been profound. Burma is one of the nessed mass pro-democracy protests and Ne
poorest countries in Asia and ranks 138 on Win’s resignation but ended with another
the UN Human Development Index, putting security crackdown by a new generation of
it on a par with Cambodia and Pakistan. Tatmadaw leaders. The new regime promised
There are over 180,000 refugees from Burma democratic change, but hopes for swift
in neighbouring countries as well as over two reform soon faded. Only in 2010, more than
million migrant workers, legal and illegal.3 twenty years later, does the SPDC appear
There are an estimated 470,000 people ready to institute a new system of govern-
internally displaced in eastern rural districts.4 ment. This, in turn, is precipitating another
The country remains the world’s largest major upheaval in national politics that is on
producer of illicit opium after Afghanistan.5 a parallel with other tumultuous years of
And treatable or preventable diseases like government change: 1948, 1962 and 1988.
malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS
continue to take a heavy human toll. For the moment, Burma’s future political
course remains contentious and far from
The whole country is affected by such suf- clear. Will the 2010 election and introduction
fering, but the major impact is felt in ethnic of a new constitution prove the basis for a
nationality regions, especially conflict-zones new era of consensual government or will it
along the borders with Bangladesh, China, perpetuate conflict and national division?
India and Thailand. One of the most The country is entering a critical period.
Under Ne Win’s BSPP government, no ethnic Ultimately, it was the Tatmadaw government
parties were recognised by the constitution. that maintained – and increased – national
Instead, ethnic opposition was represented by control through a combination of measures.
a diversity of militant groups in two major These included the repression of the NLD
blocks: the nine-party National Democratic and other opposition groups, the drawing up
Front (NDF), formed 1976, that sought a fed- of a new constitution by a hand-picked
eral union; and allies of the Communist Party National Convention (1993-2008), and the
of Burma (CPB), which had remained the growth of the pro-military Union Solidarity
country’s largest insurgent force since 1948. and Development Association (USDA,
formed 1993) to over 21 million members. In
This pattern of three-cornered conflict particular, Senior General Than Shwe and the
between the BSPP, NDF and CPB was then Tatmadaw leaders consistently rejected tri-
shattered by the 1988 upheavals that caused partite dialogue and United Nations or other
new groups and alignments to emerge. Four international initiatives seeking to bring
events stood out: Burma’s different parties together around the
same table.
The BSPP was replaced by a new system
of military government under the Ethnic politics thus continued in complex
SLORC-SPDC. and uncertain form. In private, there were
many links between the different ethnic
In 1989 the new government introduced parties and alliances, with a common deter-
an ethnic ceasefire policy following mu- mination to be influential in the country’s
tinies that caused the collapse of the CPB transition. But there was little agreement
and formation of new ethnic forces in about how this should be achieved. Following
northeast Burma. Several ethnic forces, the 1988-91 upheavals, three new and
led by the United Wa State Army importantly different groupings emerged:
(UWSA), quickly agreed to peace terms. electoral, ceasefire and non-ceasefire
The 1990 general election was over- organisations.6
whelmingly won by the National League
On the electoral front, 19 ethnic nationality
for Democracy (NLD) and allied ethnic
parties won seats in the 1990 election, spear-
parties that gained the second largest
headed by the Shan Nationalities League for
block of seats.
Democracy (SNLD). Subsequently, most
Over a dozen MPs-elect went under- parties allied with the NLD through such
ground to escape arrest for having tried initiatives as the 1998 Committee Represent-
to convene a parliament and govern- ing the People’s Parliament. But different
ment. They subsequently joined up with strategies also emerged. From 1995, protest-
other democracy activists, thousands of ing restrictions on freedom of expression, the
whom had fled into NDF-controlled ter- SNLD and allied parties joined the NLD in
ritories in the borderlands since 1988. boycotting the National Convention to draw
“ The laws are…against the opinions of the the formation of the National Council Union
of Burma (NCUB), bringing together over
twenty anti-government groups. These
international community and the actual desires of the
included the Karen National Union (KNU,
people of Myanmar... formed 1947), long the country’s leading
ethnic force, and National Coalition
All these election laws are based on the unjust and Government Union of Burma (NCGUB,
formed 1990) comprising exile MPs-elect. A
legally unapproved constitution 2008. According to new political dynamic appeared possible,
uniting ethnic militants in the borderlands
these election laws, we feel that the coming elections and democracy activists from the Burman
cannot be free and fair. ” majority in the cities. But differences over
strategy and the growing ceasefire movement
UNA letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, March 2010 eroded the NCUB’s effectiveness.
and health care in their communities. ” The international community and all political
groups in Burma therefore face major
Human Rights Foundation of Monland, March 2010 challenges in their responses to the 2010
election. To date, there has been little unity
and consensus. The situation is reminiscent
Burma’s troubled history since independence of the 2008 referendum to which there was
does not portend easy or quick solutions. also a disparate response, meaning that the
Parties supporting the election believe that it proposed new constitution was never fully
could take the life of at least one parliament, faced up to, debated or approved by all
until 2015, for political progress and reforms stakeholders. The international community,
to take root. But as political momentum too, remains divided by Western policies of
gathered pace in early 2010, it became clear sanctions and Asian policies of engagement.
that not only would there be little chance of
amending the 2008 constitution but that the For these reasons, a sustained and inclusive
election would go ahead without the NLD focus is vital on the 2010 election, both within
and both ceasefire and non-ceasefire groups Burma and the international community, so
whose inclusion is integral for national that its outcome can have clear and historic
reconciliation. As at other key turning points meaning. There are three major areas by
in Burma’s history in 1948 and 1962, a new which reform transition can be adjudged:
government system is about to be introduced political, ethnic and economic.
to a backdrop of conflict and exclusion.
The political challenges include the
The starkest warnings of Burma’s plight are construction of a democratic system of
in the countrywide poverty and humanitarian government that guarantees representation
crises. Despite the growing economic links and human rights for all. The ethnic
with Asian neighbours, the military govern- challenges include conflict resolution and
ment remains among the most condemned in humanitarian progress in the most
the international community and the subject impoverished regions of the country. And the
of repeated censure by the United Nations for economic challenges include equitable
grave human rights abuses, including forced participation, sustainable development and
labour, torture and extrajudicial executions in progress that will bring benefits to every
the ethnic borderlands.29 Indeed in many district and ethnic group.
Burma has been afflicted by ethnic conflict and civil war since Burma in 2010: A Critical Year
independence in 1948, exposing it to some of the longest in Ethnic Politics, Burma Policy
running armed conflicts in the world. Ethnic nationality peoples Briefing No.1, June 2010
have long felt marginalised and discriminated against. The
situation worsened after the military coup in 1962, when Burma’s 2010 Elections:
minority rights were further curtailed. The main grievances of Challenges and Opportunities,
ethnic nationality groups in Burma are the lack of influence in Burma Policy Briefing No.2,
the political decision-making processes; the absence of June 2010
economic and social development in their areas; and what they
see as the military government's Burmanisation policy, which
translates into repression of their cultural rights and religious
freedom.