1. CERI: Burma: The army closes off political options
- Author:
- Renaud Egreteau
- Publication Date:
- 03-2005
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
- Abstract:
- The Burmese junta that came to power in 1962, and reaffirmed its domination by a second military coup d'état in September of 1988, has steadily increased its control over the nation's institutions and over the running of the country (renamed Myanmar in 1989). In August of 2003, the decision taken by General Khin Nyunt, Prime Minister and head of military intelligence, to propose "a road map to democracy" suggested that a gradual "transition to democracy", closely supervised by the military regime, was possible. But the ousting of Khin Nuyunt in October 2004 spelled the return of the regime's hardliners and of the last of the army's nationalist chiefs, adamantly opposed to any negotiations with the democratic civilian opposition led by Aung San Suu, held under house arrest since May 2003. Thus the regime, strengthened by a favorable strategic environment, has a good chance of remaining in power by setting its own rules for "democratic" procedures, its aim being to keep the country stable rather pursuing a process of liberalization. Such a policy will inevitably be detrimental to the interests of the opposition and the ethnic minorities.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, and Politics
- Political Geography:
- Burma and Southeast Asia