Aung San Suu Kyi

Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi
AC
အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်
Chairperson and General Secretary of the National League for Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 September 1988
Preceded by Position established
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 May 2012
President Thein Sein
Preceded by Tun Yi
Member of the Burmese House of Representatives
for Kawhmu
Incumbent
Assumed office
2 May 2012
Preceded by Soe Tint
Majority 46,730 (71.38%)[1]
Personal details
Born 19 June 1945
Rangoon, Burma
(now Yangon)
Political party National League for Democracy
Spouse(s) Michael Aris (1971–1999)
Children Alexander
Kim
Alma mater University of Delhi
St Hugh's College, Oxford
University of London
Religion Theravada Buddhism
Awards Rafto Prize
Sakharov Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
Jawaharlal Nehru Award
International Simón Bolívar Prize
Olof Palme Prize
Bhagwan Mahavir World Peace
Congressional Gold Medal
Signature
Aung San Suu Kyi's voice
from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 27 January 2013[2]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Aung San Suu Kyi AC (Burmese: အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်; MLCTS: aung hcan: cu. krany, /aʊŋˌsæn.suːˈtʃiː/,[3] Burmese pronunciation: [àʊɴ sʰáɴ sṵ tɕì]; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese opposition politician and chairperson of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Burma. In the 1990 general election, the NLD won 59% of the national votes and 81% (392 of 485) of the seats in Parliament .[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest in Burma for almost 15 of the 21 years from 20 July 1989 until her most recent release on 13 November 2010,[11] becoming one of the world's most prominent political prisoners.[12]

Suu Kyi received the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. In 1992 she was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding by the government of India and the International Simón Bolívar Prize from the government of Venezuela. In 2007, the Government of Canada made her an honorary citizen of that country,[13] the fourth person ever to receive the honour.[14] In 2011, she was awarded the Wallenberg Medal.[15] On 19 September 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi was also presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, which is, along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States.[16]

On 1 April 2012, her party, the National League for Democracy, announced that she was elected to the Pyithu Hluttaw, the lower house of the Burmese parliament, representing the constituency of Kawhmu;[17] her party also won 43 of the 45 vacant seats in the lower house.[18] The election results were confirmed by the official electoral commission the following day.[19]

On 6 June 2013, Suu Kyi announced on the World Economic Forum’s website that she wants to run for the presidency in Myanmar's 2015 elections.[20] Suu Kyi is prohibited, however, from becoming president within the current constitution; this cannot be amended without the approval of at least one military legislator.[21]

As of 2014, she is listed as the 61st most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[22]

Name

A family portrait, with Aung San Suu Kyi (in white) as a toddler, taken shortly before her father's assassination in 1947.

Aung San Suu Kyi, like other Burmese names, includes no family name, but is only a personal name, in her case derived from three relatives: "Aung San" from her father, "Suu" from her paternal grandmother, and "Kyi" from her mother Khin Kyi.[23]

The Burmese refer to her as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Daw, literally meaning "aunt", is not part of her name but is a Burmese honorific for any older and revered woman, akin to "Madame".[24] Burmese address her Daw Suu and Amay Suu ("Mother Suu"),[25][26] (and even "Aunty Suu"), and also the formal Dr. Suu Kyi.[27]

Foreign media refer to her as Ms. Suu Kyi, or Miss Suu Kyi.

Personal life

A portrait of Khin Kyi and her family in 1948. Aung San Suu Kyi is seated on the floor.

Aung San Suu Kyi was born on 19 June 1945 in Rangoon (now named Yangon).[28] Her father, Aung San, founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1947; he was assassinated by his rivals in the same year. She grew up with her mother, Khin Kyi, and two brothers, Aung San Lin and Aung San Oo, in Rangoon. Aung San Lin died at the age of eight, when he drowned in an ornamental lake on the grounds of the house.[23] Her elder brother emigrated to San Diego, California, becoming a United States citizen.[23] After Aung San Lin's death, the family moved to a house by Inya Lake where Suu Kyi met people of various backgrounds, political views and religions.[29] She was educated in Methodist English High School (now Basic Education High School No. 1 Dagon) for much of her childhood in Burma, where she was noted as having a talent for learning languages.[30] She is a Theravada Buddhist.

Aung San Suu Kyi at the age of 6

Suu Kyi's mother, Khin Kyi, gained prominence as a political figure in the newly formed Burmese government. She was appointed Burmese ambassador to India and Nepal in 1960, and Aung San Suu Kyi followed her there. She studied in the Convent of Jesus and Mary School in New Delhi, and graduated from Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi with a degree in politics in 1964.[28][31] Suu Kyi continued her education at St Hugh's College, Oxford, obtaining a B.A. degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1969. After graduating, she lived in New York City with a family friend Ma Than E, who was once a popular Burmese pop singer.[32] She worked at the United Nations for three years, primarily on budget matters, writing daily to her future husband, Dr. Michael Aris.[33] On 1 January 1972, Aung San Suu Kyi married Aris, a scholar of Tibetan culture, living abroad in Bhutan.[28][34] The following year she gave birth to their first son, Alexander Aris, in London; their second son, Kim, was born in 1977. Between 1985 and 1987, Suu Kyi was working toward an M.Phil degree in Burmese literature as a research student at SOAS the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.[35][36] She was elected as an Honorary Fellow of SOAS in 1990.[28] For two years she was a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS) in Shimla, India. She also worked for the government of the Union of Burma.

In 1988 Suu Kyi returned to Burma, at first to tend for her ailing mother but later to lead the pro-democracy movement. Aris' visit in Christmas 1995 turned out to be the last time that he and Suu Kyi met, as Suu Kyi remained in Burma and the Burmese dictatorship denied him any further entry visas.[28] Aris was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 which was later found to be terminal. Despite appeals from prominent figures and organizations, including the United States, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Pope John Paul II, the Burmese government would not grant Aris a visa, saying that they did not have the facilities to care for him, and instead urged Aung San Suu Kyi to leave the country to visit him. She was at that time temporarily free from house arrest but was unwilling to depart, fearing that she would be refused re-entry if she left, as she did not trust the military junta's assurance that she could return.[37]

Aris died on his 53rd birthday on 27 March 1999. Since 1989, when his wife was first placed under house arrest, he had seen her only five times, the last of which was for Christmas in 1995. She was also separated from her children, who live in the United Kingdom, but starting in 2011, they have visited her in Burma.[38]

On 2 May 2008, after Cyclone Nargis hit Burma, Suu Kyi lost the roof of her house and lived in virtual darkness after losing electricity in her dilapidated lakeside residence. She used candles at night as she was not provided any generator set.[39] Plans to renovate and repair the house were announced in August 2009.[40] Suu Kyi was released from house arrest on 13 November 2010.[41]

Aung San Suu Kyi arrives to give a speech to the supporters during the 2012 by-election campaign at her constituency Kawhmu township, Myanmar on 22 March 2012.

Political beginnings

Coincidentally, when Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma in 1988, the long-time military leader of Burma and head of the ruling party, General Ne Win, stepped down. Mass demonstrations for democracy followed that event on 8 August 1988 (8–8–88, a day seen as auspicious), which were violently suppressed in what came to be known as the 8888 Uprising. On 26 August 1988, she addressed half a million people at a mass rally in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital, calling for a democratic government.[28] However in September, a new military junta took power.

Influenced[42] by both Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence[43][44] and more specifically by Buddhist concepts,[45] Aung San Suu Kyi entered politics to work for democratization, helped found the National League for Democracy on 27 September 1988,[46] but was put under house arrest on 20 July 1989. Offered freedom if she left the country, she refused. Despite her philosophy of non-violence, a group of ex-military commanders and senior politicians who joined NLD during the crisis believed that she was too confrontational and left NLD. But she retained enormous popularity and support among NLD youths with whom she spent most of her time.[47]

During the crisis, the previous democratically elected Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu initiated to form an interim government and invited opposition leaders to join him. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had signaled his readiness to recognize the interim government. However, Aung San Suu Kyi categorically rejected U Nu's plan by saying "the future of the opposition would be decided by masses of the people". Ex-Brigadier General Aung Gyi, another influential politician at the time of the 8888 crisis, followed the suit and rejected the plan after Suu Kyi's refusal.[48] Aung Gyi later accused several NLD members of being communists and resigned from the party.[47]

One of her most famous speeches was Freedom From Fear, which began: "It is not power that corrupts, but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."[49]

She also believes fear spurs many world leaders to lose sight of their purpose. "Government leaders are amazing", she once said. "So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want."[50]

Political career

Suu Kyi meets with Edgardo Boeninger of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in 1995.

1990 general election

In 1990, the military junta called a general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) received 59% of the votes, guaranteeing NLD 80% of the parliament seats. Some claim that Aung San Suu Kyi would have assumed the office of Prime Minister;[51] in fact, however, as she was not permitted, she did not stand as a candidate in the elections (although being a MP is not a strict prerequisite for becoming PM in most parliamentary systems). Instead, the results were nullified and the military refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest at her home on University Avenue (16°49′32″N 96°9′1″E / 16.82556°N 96.15028°E) in Rangoon, during which time she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize the year after. Her sons Alexander and Kim accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Aung San Suu Kyi used the Nobel Peace Prize's 1.3 million USD prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.[52] Around this time, Suu Kyi chose non-violence as an expedient political tactic, stating in 2007, "I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons, but for political and practical reasons,"[53] however, nonviolent action as well as civil resistance in lieu of armed conflict are also political tactics in keeping with the overall philosophy of her Theravada Buddhist religion.

1996 attack

On 9 November 1996, the motorcade that she was traveling in with other National League for Democracy leaders Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung, was attacked in Yangon. About 200 men swooped down on the motorcade, wielding metal chains, metal batons, stones and other weapons. The car that Aung San Suu Kyi was in had its rear window smashed, and the car with Tin Oo and U Kyi Maung had its rear window and two backdoor windows shattered. It is believed the offenders were members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) who were allegedly paid 500 kyats (@ USD $0.50) each to participate. The NLD lodged an official complaint with the police, and according to reports the government launched an investigation, but no action was taken. (Amnesty International 120297)[54]

House arrest

Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house arrest for 15 of the past 21 years, on numerous occasions, since she began her political career,[55] during which time she was prevented from meeting her party supporters and international visitors. In an interview, Suu Kyi said that while under house arrest she spent her time reading philosophy, politics and biographies that her husband had sent her.[56] She also passed the time playing the piano, and was occasionally allowed visits from foreign diplomats as well as from her personal physician.[57]

The media were also prevented from visiting Suu Kyi, as occurred in 1998 when journalist Maurizio Giuliano, after photographing her, was stopped by customs officials who then confiscated all his films, tapes and some notes.[58] In contrast, Suu Kyi did have visits from government representatives, such as during her autumn 1994 house arrest when she met the leader of Burma, General Than Shwe and General Khin Nyunt on 20 September in the first meeting since she had been placed in detention.[28] On several occasions during Suu Kyi's house arrest, she had periods of poor health and as a result was hospitalized.[59]

The Burmese government detained and kept Suu Kyi imprisoned because it viewed her as someone "likely to undermine the community peace and stability" of the country, and used both Article 10(a) and 10(b) of the 1975 State Protection Act (granting the government the power to imprison people for up to five years without a trial),[60] and Section 22 of the "Law to Safeguard the State Against the Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts" as legal tools against her.[61] She continuously appealed her detention,[62] and many nations and figures continued to call for her release and that of 2,100 other political prisoners in the country.[63][64] On 12 November 2010, days after the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won elections conducted after a gap of 20 years, the junta finally agreed to sign orders allowing Suu Kyi's release,[65] and Suu Kyi's house arrest term came to an end on 13 November 2010.

United Nations involvement

The United Nations (UN) has attempted to facilitate dialogue between the junta and Suu Kyi.[28] On 6 May 2002, following secret confidence-building negotiations led by the UN, the government released her; a government spokesman said that she was free to move "because we are confident that we can trust each other". Aung San Suu Kyi proclaimed "a new dawn for the country". However on 30 May 2003 in an incident similar to the 1996 attack on her, a government-sponsored mob attacked her caravan in the northern village of Depayin, murdering and wounding many of her supporters.[66] Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene with the help of her driver, Ko Kyaw Soe Lin, but was arrested upon reaching Ye-U. The government imprisoned her at Insein Prison in Rangoon. After she underwent a hysterectomy in September 2003,[67] the government again placed her under house arrest in Rangoon.

The results from the UN facilitation have been mixed; Razali Ismail, UN special envoy to Burma, met with Aung San Suu Kyi. Ismail resigned from his post the following year, partly because he was denied re-entry to Burma on several occasions.[68] Several years later in 2006, Ibrahim Gambari, UN Undersecretary-General (USG) of Department of Political Affairs, met with Aung San Suu Kyi, the first visit by a foreign official since 2004.[69] He also met with Suu Kyi later the same year.[70] On 2 October 2007 Gambari returned to talk to her again after seeing Than Shwe and other members of the senior leadership in Naypyidaw.[71] State television broadcast Suu Kyi with Gambari, stating that they had met twice. This was Suu Kyi's first appearance in state media in the four years since her current detention began.[72]

The United Nations Working Group for Arbitrary Detention published an Opinion that Aung San Suu Kyi's deprivation of liberty was arbitrary and in contravention of Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and requested that the authorities in Burma set her free, but the authorities ignored the request at that time.[73] The U.N. report said that according to the Burmese Government’s reply, "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not been arrested, but has only been taken into protective custody, for her own safety", and while "it could have instituted legal action against her under the country’s domestic legislation ... it has preferred to adopt a magnanimous attitude, and is providing her with protection in her own interests."[73]

Such claims were rejected by Brig-General Khin Yi, Chief of Myanmar Police Force (MPF). On 18 January 2007, the state-run paper New Light of Myanmar accused Suu Kyi of tax evasion for spending her Nobel Prize money outside of the country. The accusation followed the defeat of a US-sponsored United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Burma as a threat to international security; the resolution was defeated because of strong opposition from China, which has strong ties with the military junta (China later voted against the resolution, along with Russia and South Africa).[74]

In November 2007, it was reported that Suu Kyi would meet her political allies National League for Democracy along with a government minister. The ruling junta made the official announcement on state TV and radio just hours after UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari ended his second visit to Burma. The NLD confirmed that it had received the invitation to hold talks with Suu Kyi.[75] However, the process delivered few concrete results.

On 3 July 2009, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon went to Burma to pressure the junta into releasing Suu Kyi and to institute democratic reform. However, on departing from Burma, Ban Ki-moon said he was "disappointed" with the visit after junta leader Than Shwe refused permission for him to visit Suu Kyi, citing her ongoing trial. Ban said he was "deeply disappointed that they have missed a very important opportunity."[76]

Periods under detention

2007 anti-government protests

Protests led by Buddhist monks began on 19 August 2007 following steep fuel price increases, and continued each day, despite the threat of a crackdown by the military.[82]

On 22 September 2007, although still under house arrest, Suu Kyi made a brief public appearance at the gate of her residence in Yangon to accept the blessings of Buddhist monks who were marching in support of human rights.[83] It was reported that she had been moved the following day to Insein Prison (where she had been detained in 2003),[84][85][86][87] but meetings with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari near her Rangoon home on 30 September and 2 October established that she remained under house arrest.[88][89]

2009 trespass incident

U.S. Senator Jim Webb visiting Suu Kyi in 2009. Webb negotiated the release of John Yettaw, the man who trespassed in Suu Kyi's home, resulting in her arrest and conviction with three years' hard labour.

On 3 May 2009, an American man, identified as John Yettaw, swam across Inya Lake to her house uninvited and was arrested when he made his return trip three days later.[90] He had attempted to make a similar trip two years earlier, but for unknown reasons was turned away.[91] He later claimed at trial that he was motivated by a divine vision requiring him to notify her of an impending terrorist assassination attempt.[92] On 13 May, Suu Kyi was arrested for violating the terms of her house arrest because the swimmer, who pleaded exhaustion, was allowed to stay in her house for two days before he attempted the swim back. Suu Kyi was later taken to Insein Prison, where she could have faced up to five years confinement for the intrusion.[93] The trial of Suu Kyi and her two maids began on 18 May and a small number of protesters gathered outside.[94][95] Diplomats and journalists were barred from attending the trial; however, on one occasion, several diplomats from Russia, Thailand and Singapore and journalists were allowed to meet Suu Kyi.[96] The prosecution had originally planned to call 22 witnesses.[97] It also accused John Yettaw of embarrassing the country.[98] During the ongoing defence case, Suu Kyi said she was innocent. The defence was allowed to call only one witness (out of four), while the prosecution was permitted to call 14 witnesses. The court rejected two character witnesses, NLD members Tin Oo and Win Tin, and permitted the defence to call only a legal expert.[99] According to one unconfirmed report, the junta was planning to, once again, place her in detention, this time in a military base outside the city.[100] In a separate trial, Yettaw said he swam to Suu Kyi's house to warn her that her life was "in danger".[101] The national police chief later confirmed that Yettaw was the "main culprit" in the case filed against Suu Kyi.[102] According to aides, Suu Kyi spent her 64th birthday in jail sharing biryani rice and chocolate cake with her guards.[103]

Her arrest and subsequent trial received worldwide condemnation by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Security Council,[104] Western governments,[105] South Africa,[106] Japan[107] and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member.[108] The Burmese government strongly condemned the statement, as it created an "unsound tradition"[109] and criticised Thailand for meddling in its internal affairs.[110] The Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win was quoted in the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar as saying that the incident "was trumped up to intensify international pressure on Burma by internal and external anti-government elements who do not wish to see the positive changes in those countries' policies toward Burma".[98] Ban responded to an international campaign[111] by flying to Burma to negotiate, but Than Shwe rejected all of his requests.[112]

On 11 August 2009 the trial concluded with Suu Kyi being sentenced to imprisonment for three years with hard labour. This sentence was commuted by the military rulers to further house arrest of 18 months.[113] On 14 August, U.S. Senator Jim Webb visited Burma, visiting with junta leader Gen. Than Shwe and later with Suu Kyi. During the visit, Webb negotiated Yettaw's release and deportation from Burma.[114] Following the verdict of the trial, lawyers of Suu Kyi said they would appeal against the 18-month sentence.[115] On 18 August, United States President Barack Obama asked the country's military leadership to set free all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi.[116] In her appeal, Aung San Suu Kyi had argued that the conviction was unwarranted. However, her appeal against the August sentence was rejected by a Burmese court on 2 October 2009. Although the court accepted the argument that the 1974 constitution, under which she had been charged, was null and void, it also said the provisions of the 1975 security law, under which she has been kept under house arrest, remained in force. The verdict effectively meant that she would be unable to participate in the elections scheduled to take place in 2010 – the first in Burma in two decades. Her lawyer stated that her legal team would pursue a new appeal within 60 days.[117]

2009: International pressure for release and 2010 Burmese general election

It was announced prior to the Burmese general election that Aung San Suu Kyi may be released "so she can organize her party,"[118] However, Suu Kyi was not allowed to run.[119] On 1 October 2010 the government announced that she would be released on 13 November 2010.[120]

U.S. President Barack Obama personally advocated the release of all political prisoners, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, during the US-ASEAN Summit of 2009.[121]

The U. S. Government hoped that successful general elections would be an optimistic indicator of the Burmese government's sincerity towards eventual democracy.[122] The Hatoyama government which spent 2.82 billion yen in 2008, has promised more Japanese foreign aid to encourage Burma to release Aung San Suu Kyi in time for the elections; and to continue moving towards democracy and the rule of law.[122][123]

In a personal letter to Suu Kyi, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown cautioned the Burmese government of the potential consequences of rigging elections as "condemning Burma to more years of diplomatic isolation and economic stagnation".[124]

Suu Kyi has met with many heads of state, and opened a dialog with the Minister of Labor Aung Kyi (not to be confused with Aung San Suu Kyi).[125] She was allowed to meet with senior members of her NLD party at the State House,[126] however these meetings took place under close supervision.

2010 release

Aung San Suu Kyi addresses crowds at the NLD headquarters shortly after her release.
Aung San Suu Kyi meets with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Yangon (1 December 2011)

On the evening of 13 November 2010, Suu Kyi was released from house arrest.[127] This was the date her detention had been set to expire according to a court ruling in August 2009[128] and came six days after a widely criticised general election. She appeared in front of a crowd of her supporters, who rushed to her house in Rangoon when nearby barricades were removed by the security forces. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate had been detained for 15 of the past 21 years.[129] The government newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported the release positively,[130] saying she had been granted a pardon after serving her sentence "in good conduct".[131] The New York Times suggested that the military government may have released Suu Kyi because it felt it was in a confident position to control her supporters after the election.[130] The role that Suu Kyi will play in the future of democracy in Burma remains a subject of much debate.

Her son Kim Aris was granted a visa in November 2010 to see his mother shortly after her release, for the first time in 10 years.[132] He visited again in 5 July 2011, to accompany her on a trip to Bagan, her first trip outside Yangon since 2003.[133] Her son visited again in 8 August 2011, to accompany her on a trip to Pegu, her second trip.[134]

Discussions were held between Suu Kyi and the Burmese government during 2011, which led to a number of official gestures to meet her demands. In October, around a tenth of Burma's political prisoners were freed in an amnesty and trade unions were legalised.[135][136]

In November 2011, following a meeting of its leaders, the NLD announced its intention to re-register as a political party in order to contend 48 by-elections necessitated by the promotion of parliamentarians to ministerial rank.[137] Following the decision, Suu Kyi held a telephone conference with U.S. President Barack Obama, in which it was agreed that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would make a visit to Burma, a move received with caution by Burma's ally China.[138] On 1 December 2011, Suu Kyi met with Hillary Clinton at the residence of the top-ranking US diplomat in Yangon.[139]

On 21 December 2011, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met Suu Kyi in Yangoon, becoming Suu Kyi's "first-ever meeting with the leader of a foreign country".[140]

On 5 January 2012, British Foreign Minister William Hague met Aung San Suu Kyi and his Burmese counterpart. This represented a significant visit for Suu Kyi and Burma. Suu Kyi studied in the UK and maintains many ties there, whilst Britain is Burma's largest bilateral donor. During Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Europe, she visited the Swiss parliament, collected her 1991 Nobel Prize in Oslo and her honorary degree from Oxford University.[141]

2012 by-elections

In December 2011, there was speculation that Suu Kyi would run in the 2012 national by-elections to fill vacant seats.[142] On 18 January 2012, Suu Kyi formally registered to contest a Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) seat in the Kawhmu Township constituency in special parliamentary elections to be held on 1 April 2012.[143][144] The seat was previously held by Soe Tint, who vacated it after being appointed Construction Deputy Minister, in the 2010 election.[145] She ran against Union Solidarity and Development Party candidate Soe Min, a retired army physician and native of Twante Township.[146]

Aung San Suu Kyi (Center) gives a speech to the supporters during the 2012 by-election campaign at her constituency Kawhmu township, Myanmar on 22 March 2012.

On 3 March 2012, at a large campaign rally in Mandalay, Suu Kyi unexpectedly left after 15 minutes, because of exhaustion and airsickness.[147]

In an official campaign speech broadcast on Burmese state television's MRTV on 14 March 2012, Suu Kyi publicly campaigned for reform of the 2008 Constitution, removal of restrictive laws, more adequate protections for people's democratic rights, and establishment of an independent judiciary.[148] The speech was leaked online a day before it was broadcast.[149] A paragraph in the speech, focusing on the Tatmadaw's repression by means of law, was censored by authorities.[150]

Suu Kyi has also called for international media to monitor the upcoming by-elections, while publicly pointing out irregularities in official voter lists, which include deceased individuals and exclude other eligible voters in the contested constituencies.[151][152] On 21 March 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi was quoted as saying "Fraud and rule violations are continuing and we can even say they are increasing."[153]

When asked whether she would assume a ministerial post if given the opportunity, she said the following:[154]

I can tell you one thing – that under the present constitution, if you become a member of the government you have to vacate your seat in the national assembly. And I am not working so hard to get into parliament simply to vacate my seat.

On 26 March 2012, Suu Kyi suspended her nationwide campaign tour early, after a campaign rally in Myeik (Mergui), a coastal town in the south, citing health problems due to exhaustion and hot weather.[155]

On 1 April 2012, the NLD announced that Suu Kyi had won the vote for a seat in Parliament.[156] A news broadcast on state-run MRTV, reading the announcements of the Union Election Commission, confirmed her victory, as well as her party's victory in 43 of the 45 contested seats, officially making Suu Kyi the Leader of the Opposition in the lower house.[157]

Although she and other MP-elects were expected to take office on 23 April when the Hluttaws resume session, National League for Democracy MP-elects, including Suu Kyi, said they might not take their oaths because of its wording; in its present form, parliamentarians must vow to "safeguard" the constitution.[158][159] In an address on Radio Free Asia, she said "We don't mean we will not attend the parliament, we mean we will attend only after taking the oath... Changing that wording in the oath is also in conformity with the Constitution. I don't expect there will be any difficulty in doing it."[160]

On 2 May 2012, National League for Democracy MP-elects, including Aung San Suu Kyi, took their oaths and took office, though the wording of the oath was not changed.[161] According to the Los Angeles Times, "Suu Kyi and her colleagues decided they could do more by joining as lawmakers than maintaining their boycott on principle."[161] On 9 July 2012, she attended the Parliament for the first time as a lawmaker.[162]

On 6 July 2012, Suu Kyi announced on the World Economic Forum’s website that she wants to run for the presidency in Myanmar's 2015 elections.[20] The current Constitution, which came into effect in 2008, bars her from the presidency because she is the widow and mother of foreigners. These measures seem to have been written in part to prevent her from being eligible.[163]

Rohingya controversy

Some activists criticised Aung San Suu Kyi for her silence on the 2012 Rakhine State riots.[164] After receiving a peace prize, she told reporters she did not know if the Rohingya could be regarded as Burmese citizens.[165] Under the 1982 Citizenship Law, most Rohingya are unable to qualify for Burmese citizenship. As such, they are treated as illegal immigrants, with restrictions on their movement and withholding of land rights, education and public service.[164] Some describe her stance as politically motivated.;[164] however, she said that she wanted to work towards reconciliation and that she cannot take sides as "violence has been committed by both sides."[166] According to The Economist, her "halo has even slipped among foreign human-rights lobbyists, disappointed at her failure to make a clear stand on behalf of the Rohingya minority."

However, she has spoken out "against a ban on Rohingya families near the Bangladeshi border having more than two children."[167]

Political belief

Aung San Suu Kyi and President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in Ulaanbaatar

Asked what democratic models Myanmar could look to, she said: "We have many, many lessons to learn from various places, not just the Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Mongolia and Indonesia." She also cited "the eastern European countries, which made the transition from communist autocracy to democracy in the 1980s and 1990s, and the Latin American countries, which made the transition from military governments. "And we cannot of course forget South Africa, because although it wasn't a military regime, it was certainly an authoritarian regime." She added: "We wish to learn from everybody who has achieved a transition to democracy, and also ... our great strong point is that, because we are so far behind everybody else, we can also learn which mistakes we should avoid."[168]

In a nod to the current deep US political divide between Republicans led by Mitt Romney and the Democrats of Obama—battling to win the Presidential election on 6 November—she stressed with a smile "Those of you who are familiar with American politics I'm sure understand the need for negotiated compromise."[168]

International support

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at a conference in London, during 5 countries tour of Europe, 2012
May 2009 demonstration for Aung San Suu Kyi in Rome, Italy
The 2009 celebration of Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday in Dublin, Ireland
Aung San Suu Kyi greeting supporters from Bago State in 2011

Aung San Suu Kyi has received vocal support from Western nations in Europe,[169] Australia[169] and North[170] and South America, as well as India,[6] Israel,[171] Japan[172] the Philippines and South Korea.[173] In December 2007, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously 400–0 to award Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal; the Senate concurred on 25 April 2008.[174] On 6 May 2008, President George Bush signed legislation awarding Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal.[175] She is the first recipient in American history to receive the prize while imprisoned. More recently, there has been growing criticism of her detention by Burma's neighbours in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, particularly from Indonesia,[176] Thailand,[177] the Philippines[178][179] and Singapore.[180] At one point Malaysia warned Burma that it faced expulsion from ASEAN as a result of the detention of Suu Kyi.[181] Other nations including South Africa,[182] Bangladesh[183] and the Maldives[184] also called for her release. The United Nations has urged the country to move towards inclusive national reconciliation, the restoration of democracy, and full respect for human rights.[185] In December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the human rights situation in Burma and calling for Suu Kyi's release—80 countries voting for the resolution, 25 against and 45 abstentions.[186] Other nations, such as China and Russia, are less critical of the regime and prefer to cooperate only on economic matters.[187] Indonesia has urged China to push Burma for reforms.[188] However, Samak Sundaravej, former Prime Minister of Thailand, criticised the amount of support for Suu Kyi, saying that "Europe uses Aung San Suu Kyi as a tool. If it's not related to Aung San Suu Kyi, you can have deeper discussions with Myanmar."[189]

Vietnam, however, did not support calls by other ASEAN member states for Myanmar to free Aung San Suu Kyi, state media reported Friday, 14 August 2009.[190] The state-run Việt Nam News said Vietnam had no criticism of Myanmar's decision 11 August 2009 to place Suu Kyi under house arrest for the next 18 months, effectively barring her from elections scheduled for 2010. "It is our view that the Aung San Suu Kyi trial is an internal affair of Myanmar", Vietnamese government spokesman Le Dung stated on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In contrast with other ASEAN member states, Dung said Vietnam has always supported Myanmar and hopes it will continue to implement the "roadmap to democracy" outlined by its government.[191]

Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. The decision of the Nobel Committee mentions:[192]

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar (Burma) for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

...Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression...

...In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 1991 to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour this woman for her unflagging efforts and to show its support for the many people throughout the world who are striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means.

—Oslo, 14 October 1991

In 1995 Aung San Suu Kyi delivered the keynote address at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.[193]

Nobel Peace Prize winners (Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Shirin Ebadi, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Mairead Corrigan, Rigoberta Menchú, Prof. Elie Wiesel, U.S. President Barack Obama, Betty Williams, Jody Williams and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter) called for the rulers of Burma to release Suu Kyi in order to "create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct support of the United Nations."[28] Some of the money she received as part of the award helps fund London-based charity Prospect Burma, which provides higher education grants to Burmese students.[194]

On 16 June 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi was finally able to deliver her Nobel acceptance speech (Nobel lecture) at Oslo's City Hall, two decades after being awarded the peace prize.[195][196]

Suu Kyi meeting Barack Obama at the White House in September 2012

In September 2012, Aung San Suu Kyi received in person the United States Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest Congressional award. Although she was awarded this medal in 2008, at the time she was under house arrest, and was unable to receive the medal. Aung San Suu Kyi was greeted with bipartisan support at Congress, as part of a coast-to-coast tour in the United States. In addition, Aung San Suu Kyi met President Barack Obama at the White House. The experience was described by Aung San Suu Kyi as "one of the most moving days of my life."[197][198]

As of 2014, she is listed as the 61st most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.[22]

Organizations

Health problems

She had surgery for a gynecological condition in September 2003 at Asia Royal Hospital during her house arrest.[215] She had undergone a minor foot surgery in December 2013.[216] Her doctor said that she has no serious health problems but weighs only 48 kg, has low blood pressure and can become weak easily.[217]

Biographical Film

Main article: The Lady (2011 film)

The life of Suu Kyi and her husband Michael Aris is portrayed in the Luc Besson's 2011 film The Lady, in which they are played by Michelle Yeoh and David Thewlis.[218] Yeoh visited Suu Kyi in 2011 before the film's release in November.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Myanmar election commission announces NLD wins overwhelmingly in by-elections". Xinhua News Agency. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  2. ↑ "Aung San Suu Kyi". Desert Island Discs. 27 January 2013. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Aung San Suu Kyi". Oxford Dictionaries Online. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
  4. ↑ Aung San Suu Kyi should lead Burma, Pravda Online. 25 September 2007
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Next United Nations Secretary-General: Time for a Woman. Equality Now.org. November 2005.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 MPs to Suu Kyi: You are the real PM of Burma. The Times of India. 13 June 2007
  7. ↑ Walsh, John. (February 2006). Letters from Burma. Shinawatra International University.
  8. ↑ Deutsche Welle Article: Sentence for Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi sparks outrage and cautious hope Quote: The NLD won a convincing majority in elections in 1990, the last remotely fair vote in Burma. That would have made Suu Kyi the prime minister, but the military leadership immediately nullified the result. Now her party must decide whether to take part in a poll that shows little prospect of being just.
  9. ↑ Sharpe, Penny. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi". Penny Sharpe MLC. Archived from the original on 30 March 2010. In 1990, Suu Kyi stood as the National League for Democracy's candidate for Prime Minister in the Burmese general election. The NLD won in a landslide but the military junta refused to hand over power.
  10. ↑ twist in Aung San Suu Kyi's fate Article: How a Missouri Mormon may have thwarted democracy in Myanmar. By Patrick Winn — GlobalPost Quote: "Suu Kyi has mostly lived under house arrest since 1990, when the country's military junta refused her election to the prime minister's seat. The Nobel Peace Laureate remains backed by a pro-democracy movement-in-exile, many of them also voted into a Myanmar parliament that never was." Published: 21 May 2009 00:48 ETBANGKOK, Thailand
  11. ↑ Burma releases Aung San Suu Kyi. BBC News, 13 November 2010.
  12. ↑ Aye Aye Win, Myanmar's Suu Kyi Released From Hospital, Associated Press (via the Washington Post), 10 June 2006.
  13. ↑ "Canada makes Myanmar's Suu Kyi an honorary citizen". Reuters. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  14. ↑ "Update: Mawlana Hazar Imam is made an honorary citizen of Canada". The Ismaili. 19 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 January 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
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  17. ↑ Fuller, Thomas, Democracy Advocate Elected to Myanmar’s Parliament, Her Party Says, The New York Times, 1 April 2012.
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  159. ↑ The line in question is Schedule Four of the 2008 Constitution (Form of Oaths or Affirmation), which states: "After being elected as an MP, I do solemnly swear to preserve, protect, and nurture the Constitution while following the nation's laws." (ကျွန်ုပ်...သည် လွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားလှယ်အဖြစ်ရွေးချယ်ခံရပြီးဖြစ်သဖြင့် နိုင်ငံတော်ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံအခြေခံဥပဒေကို ထိန်းသိမ်းကာကွယ် စောင့်ရှောက်ပြီး နိုင်ငံတော်၏ ဥပဒေများကိုလည်း လိုက်နာပါမည်။), officially translated as: "I do solemnly and sincerely promise that as an elected representative of the Hluttaw, I will uphold and abide by the Constitution of the Union."
  160. ↑ Aung Hla Tun (19 April 2012). "Myanmar oath standoff puts Suu Kyi's MP debut in doubt". Reuters. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
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  165. ↑ Misha Hussain (22 June 2012). "Rohingya refugees leave Burma to seek help in Bangladesh". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  166. ↑ Anjana Pasricha (15 November 2012). "Aung San Suu Kyi Explains Silence on Rohingyas". Voice of America. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  167. ↑ Aung San Suu Kyi: The halo slips
  168. ↑ 168.0 168.1 Myanmar's Suu Kyi ends US trip, hailing democracy, AFP, 3 October 2012
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Bibliography

  • Miller, J. E. (2001). Who's who in contemporary women's writing. Routledge.
  • Reid, R., Grosberg, M. (2005). Myanmar (Burma). Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74059-695-4.
  • Stewart, Whitney (1997). Aung San Suu Kyi: fearless voice of Burma. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-0-8225-4931-4.

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