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The relevance of Suu Kyi in Burma
Irrawaddy - June 18, 2010
Ba Kaung – For Aung San Suu Kyi's 65th birthday on Saturday, her supporters in many parts of the world will hold events, rallies and ceremonies, lamenting her ongoing detention and singing her praises.
But back in Burma, Suu Kyi's struggle continues with a plethora of seemingly endless and essentially fruitless legal cases surrounding her detention and repairs to her house. She must also deliberate statements to the people of Burma and to the outside world at large – messages that will be relayed through her lawyers – but which have become increasingly symbolic since her political party was officially dissolved last month.
Denied the opportunity to hold formal gatherings and meetings, the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been somewhat subdued these days, despite its claim that it will persevere and still has a role to play. The party is now like the character played by Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense who has not yet realized he is dead.
Since its official dissolution, the NLD has had to stand by and watch as some of its senior members split and formed a new party – news that reportedly shocked Suu Kyi to such an extent that she was briefly hospitalized.
Over the past few years, it has become an oft-repeated description that Suu Kyi is more of an idealistic and an iconic political figure rather than a pragmatic politician. That image was sharpened by her historic decision to reject her party registering in Burma's first election for 20 years. Opponents of her decision argued that she deprived the pro-democracy people of Burma the chance to be represented, and that many would simply have to vote for regime-backed parties on polling day.
Even after that controversial decision, Suu Kyi remains widely popular in Burma, and still finds support in the outside world. Shortly after the United States said it will continue to stand behind all those working to support the people of Burma, including the NLD, its neighbor Canada also reaffirmed its continued support for Suu Kyi and Burma's democratic struggle.
On Thursday, an international group of eminent leaders known as "The Elders," which includes South Africa's national hero Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as former US president Jimmy Carter, kept an empty chair for Suu Kyi to mark her birthday on Saturday.
There is one attribute that Suu Kyi possesses that will never change under any circumstance – her belief in non-violence adorned with a strict sense of morality. Some may say that this mode of conviction is tactless and naive, but it is the same quality she displayed when she rejected Naypyidaw's election laws, and last year when she requested people at her trial not to mock the eccentric American citizen who had swum uninvited to her lakeside house in Rangoon.
"She would never take the cheap option, even for the sake of democracy," a dissident in Rangoon said of Suu Kyi's mentality.
There seems little hope that Suu Kyi can significantly influence Burma's unfolding political developments as long as she remains under detention – it is an open question how many people would listen to her even if she called for a boycott of the election.
She recently said through her lawyer that Burmese people have "the right not to vote," implying the prospect of her call for a boycott of the election in weeks ahead.
Anyway, it seems that her political clout and powerful charisma to rally people remains very much unchanged – qualities that have been recognized as crucial in breaking the political deadlock in Burma by leaders of various ethnic groups.
The regime knows that these qualities will reveal themselves again if she is released and in the public eye again. The generals will continue to view her as a major threat to their hold on power. Even after she is freed – if indeed, she is released – she will undoubtedly be subjected to alternative methods of restrictions to contain her activities.
Many observers speculate that the election will be held in October simply because Suu Kyi's sentence is due to expire in November.
There is lingering hope that one day Suu Kyi might be able to accomplish her dream of democracy for Burma, following in the footsteps of fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela.
For now, her incarceration and her relentless commitment to the cause of democracy, coupled with her long separation from her children, will continue to provoke sympathy in many parts of the world. On Saturday, Suu Kyi's popularity will be demonstrated around the world in the form of rallies, marches, birthday parties and even some self-imposed house arrests in her honor.
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