Myanmar’s Path From Junta Rule to Democracy and Back

Having reclaimed power in Myanmar after a brief period of limited democracy, the military continued to clamp down on the former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who at 77 years old is set to spend the rest of her life in jail. She and other civilian leaders have been detained since February 2021 following her party’s emphatic victory in general elections that the military disputed, then annulled. The arrests set off street protests that were met with deadly force. In turn, some of the regime’s opponents have taken up arms. The turmoil has devastated the economy of a country that was already struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic.

She and Win Myint, who served as president in the last civilian government, were found guilty soon after the coup of inciting dissent against the military and flouting Covid restrictions while campaigning for the November 2020 elections. Since then she’s been convicted in a series of trials on charges including violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act and corruption, and sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison. Her legal defense team described all the allegations against her as groundless. Election workers appointed by the junta haven’t said clearly whether they will dissolve Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). She has vowed that it will continue its work “for the people.”