Much like the citizens of Chile in 1990, the Burmese got tired of the military running and ruining their nation and they did something about it this year. The people voted, and Aung San Suu Kyi won (again) by a massive majority. The Burmese military who held power since the Allies pushed Japan out of Southeast Asia in World War II lost in almost every jurisdiction. That Burmese army in 1945 was led by Aung San Suu Kyi's father. But not for long, he was assassinated right after his election. Daw Suu and her mother fled and became refugees, ending up in England.
Daw Suu married Michael Aris in 1972 and had two children. For this 'sin' of marrying a non Burmese, she is being held out of the Presidency of her nation though she and her party won almost every district. Daw Suu also won a massive majority back in 1988, but the military just said 'no' to her popular and massive support. Her reward was house imprisonment for the next 16 years.
Here in the West, many of us activists rallied to her cause. Students and activists flocked to the Thai border to see if they could help with the hospital and the numerous refugee camps. These groups got to know the plight of the ethnic minorities along the Thai border. Many of these minorities -- like the Shan, Kachin, and Karen -- fought against the brutal regime that used child soldiers and raping of women as a state policies.
Dan Beeton, Jeremy Woodrum and I decided to set up a lobbying arm called the US Campaign for Burma. My Human Rights Action Center worked with Jeremy to produce a musical album "For the Lady", a 30 day campaign called Burma It Can't Wait on YouTube that oozed with talent and the commitment of Los Angeles, and worked with Shepard Fairey to get Daw Suu into an iconic art remembrance. Philanthropic Network and HRAC did a compilation of all her support in the world. We brought child soldiers into Washington to expose that illegal part of the Burmese army. I and my associate Feryal Gharahi actually were two of the few people who saw Daw Suu when she was under house arrest for all those years. HRAC then sent a camera crew to Rangoon to capture her plight as well. Jim Carrey produced a video to explain to Americans how to pronounce the name Aung San Suu Kyi.
That campaign worked. But none of this takes away from the courage, fortitude and bravery of the Burmese people. This is their victory for them alone. The cost to Burma was immense. Thousands were held in prisons for years and many were tortured. Thousands of the young were forced to be soldiers who maimed and raped regularly in the villages they overran. Through it all, Aung San Suu Kyi stood tall and waited. She never ducked nor flinched once. She could have left Burma and been a free person. She chose to stay with her people under house arrest for sixteen years.
Upon her release from house arrest, Daw Suu toured the world and got awards, the Nobel being one. She stated quite clearly that she was a politician not a human rights activist. Disappointing to many, nevertheless, she was clear and straight forward about her aim.
What got her through those years of house arrest is the same power and thoughtfulness she'll practice now as she takes over this government. She proved she was a politician when she created the National League for Democracy's slate for the 2015 election by leaving out many of her courageous supporters from the '88 generation that had supported her so well back then.
She proved she was a politician again as the Burmese monks, citizens and army were killing and moving and threatening the Rohingya people (Moslem) in Burma. Most of the Rohingya have been there for centuries. But silence was the choice of Daw Suu. Many western journalists and activists lost faith in Daw Suu. The usual urge of the western press to build and destroy went to work. I believed while there were and are numerous problems in Burma, particularly with the Rohingya, my judgment is that she could not be judged harshly until she actually gets the executive power, real governmental power. Judge her on her record, not the record of the military who were massive human rights violators.
To me, the change was in the change. If Daw Suu did not win the election, nothing would change. Once she gets to run her country, then I feel we can judge her for the treatment and plight of the Rohingyas as well as the other ethnic peoples along the Thai border. Judgment follows power. Not before. She ran a brilliant campaign and the Burmese people responded to her and the NLD agenda.
Daw Suu could give a hoot about the criticisms. Her gentle spirit does not reflect her inner strength and steely determination. She has played the long, hard game and won so far. The Burmese military has learned what blind Milton wrote "they also serve who only stand and wait."
Her nation has its back up against China. The Burmese army has made fortunes selling off valuable timber, minerals and drugs. That easy corruption that has gone on for decades will not be easy to stop. The military still control 25% of the Parliament. This alone will be a formidable problem. She knows of the greed and the power of the West as well. She will need the wisdom she learned in silence.
She will need tight security. She will need wisdom and strength. She also will need a constitutional change to be the leader of her nation, though she and her party have won already. The ethnic minorities and the Rohingyas have waited way too long. But Daw Suu's future legacy is wrapped in the success or failure of these very deep and very angry national problems. Hopefully, Burma under her leadership, will follow Chile model in developing the nation into economic stability and mirror the South African experience of reconciliation and forgiveness.