Myanmar authorities have agreed to Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition to rejoin mainstream politics, setting the scene for the Nobel laureate to run for a seat in the new parliament, as U.S. was "encouraged" by steps Myanmar has taken, Suu Kyi said, “I am very confident that if we work together... there will be no turning back from the road to democracy.”
In one of a number of dramatic developments, Suu Kyi has said she will take part in by-elections expected early next year, although no date has been set. The democracy champion voiced guarded hope earlier this month that democracy would come to Myanmar, as she welcomed Hillary Clinton to the home that was her prison for years during a landmark visit by the US Secretary of State.
Tuesday’s announcement in state media follows a series of reformist moves by a new military-backed government dominated by former generals, who are now reaching out to political opponents and the West. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was stripped of its status as a legal political party by the junta last year after it chose to boycott a rare election, saying the rules were unfair.
Over the past year, Myanmar's authoritarian government has begun a transition to democracy that drew U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to this normally pariah nation because the U.S. was "encouraged" by steps Myanmar has taken.
Myanmar approved opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party to register for a coming election, state media said Tuesday, formally returning the pro-democracy group to the political arena.
"Myanmar always goes backward and forward, on and off," says Moe Satt, 28, organizer of an annual performance art festival in early December. "But this time it's different than before. The change is bigger, and I am really optimistic."
Inside the packed Mr Guitar Cafe, the band Side Effect is rocking Rangoon and ignoring the power outages common here. Yet there's one self-penned song that guitarist Darko C. dares not sing — about democracy heroine Suu Kyi.
"It could be dangerous," he says. "We know what kind of words will be banned by the censor board."
For years, Myanmar's military dictatorship has been accused of being one of the world's worst human rights violators by groups such as Amnesty International. Burma has no independent judiciary, its prisons, where forced labor is common, are full of political opponents.
U Tin Oo, the NLD's vice chairman, spent 14 years in jail and house arrest. Today, "we are in a state of cautious optimism," says Tin Oo, 84.
The October release of some political prisoners must be followed by a complete release, and the regime's repression of ethnic minorities must also stop, he says.
Eighteen months ago, when U Pe Myint and six friends founded The People's Age, a weekly political journal, they couldn't use Suu Kyi's name, photo or party.
"In the beginning, we just aim to promote awareness of democratic values," he says.
For the past three weeks Suu Kyi has graced the cover. "Many things are allowed that were prohibited before," he says, although many issues are off-limits, such as border conflicts and student protest leaders.
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