You might not care about Myanmar. It’s far from Maine and may seem untied to the state’s people and economy.
But the story there — of fighting for a freely elected government — has a universal nature. Political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi has pushed for democracy despite being detained in some form for the last two decades.
The head of the National League for Democracy, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, prompting the committee chairman to call her “an outstanding example of the power of the powerless.”
She was released from house arrest in 2010 after being detained by Myanmar’s ruling generals for 15 years. And in April she and other NLD candidates won seats in parliament in a landslide victory.
It’s an encouraging, albeit continuing, story of perseverance, made more complicated by recent ethnic and religious violence in western Myanmar. The struggle came closer to Maine recently when U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ met with Suu Kyi when both traveled to Thailand for the World Economic Forum. It was Suu Kyi’s first trip outside Myanmar, formerly Burma, in 24 years.
On that trip, Suu Kyi reminded Mainers and people around the world about what they often take for granted: The ability to freely elect and criticize their government — particularly apt during this election time.
Suu Kyi spoke her mind, cautioning against investors being recklessly optimistic. There was speculation her comments upset President Thein Sein, though an aide said it was simple disagreement.
When she returned to the U.S., Collins offered a view of a brave, intelligent woman who’s gotten the world watching Myanmar. Connecting Suu Kyi and Maine increases the chance for future collaboration. We hope one day to meet her here.
Collins:
“[Suu Kyi] warned against being overly optimistic and that the gains that had been made, while impressive were still, in her words, reversible and that it remained to be seen whether or not they could be sustained .
“We talked about the fact that the administration has eased some of the sanctions, which will allow for foreign investment in Burma. She supported the easing of sanctions, but she told me she does not support lifting all the sanctions completely because she believes this needs to be dependent … on additional steps toward a fuller democracy.
“For 15 years she could not leave her house, and she has talked about that. She just listened to her radio six hours a day. So now here she is, going to a prestigious international forum and very freely speaking her mind without fear and going to visit refugee camps on the Thai border with Burma.
“She’s extremely bright, very thoughtful and very courageous. I worry about her physical health. When you meet her, she seems very frail, and I worry about whether she has the physical strength to match her extraordinarily strong intellect.”
Well, since no one seems to be interested in commenting on this editorial, let me use the space to bring up the BDN’s sudden use of the reply-resistant ‘BDN Blogs’: Is the purpose of this change to hide its op-ed writers from comment because so much of it is adverse? If not, what is it?
I’ve been wondering the reason for the change myself; and “reply-resistant” is the only explanation I’ve been able to come up with.
Although I suppose if the BDN were inclined to explain, it would have done so at the time they made the change.
As is so often the case when the BDN is criticised, it looks like the response is going to be ‘dignified silence’.
Well, there’s the nuclear option, too…
Suu Kyi shows what women can do to bring common sense and balance to legislative bodies. The US is in dire need of the same.