Context:

Weeks of demonstrations and a deadly crackdown have roiled Myanmar since a February coup brought back full military rule following years of quasi-democracy.

Background:

• Myanmar, also known as Burma, has suffered decades of repressive military rule, poverty due to years of isolationist economic policies, and civil war with ethnic minority groups.
• 1948: Myanmar has been ruled by a military junta for many of the years since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948.
• The Union of Burma began as a parliamentary democracy, like most of its newly independent neighbors on the Indian subcontinent.
• 1962: But representative democracy only lasted until 1962, when General U Ne Win led a military coup and held power for the next twenty-six years.
  • Ne Win instituted a new constitution in 1974 based on an isolationist policy and a socialist economic program that nationalized Burma’s major enterprises.
• 1988: By 1988, widespread corruption, rapid shifts in economic policy related to Myanmar’s currency, and food shortages led to massive student-led protests.
  • In August 1988, the army cracked down on protesters, killing at least three thousand and displacing thousands more.
  • In the aftermath of the 1988 crackdown, Ne Win resigned as chairman of his party, although he remained active behind the scenes as another military junta took power.
• 1989: In 1989, the new military regime changed the country’s name from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar, and the capital, Rangoon, was renamed Yangon.
• 2005: In 2005, the military government moved the administrative capital to Nay Pyi Taw, a city it built-in central Myanmar.
• 2007: In 2007, the so-called Saffron Revolution, widespread anti-government protests that were sparked by fuel price hikes and named after the saffron-colored robes worn by participating Buddhist monks—and international pressure prompted shifts in Myanmar.
• 2008: The junta pushed forward a new constitution in 2008, which is still in place today, that gave the military widespread powers even under civilian rule.
• The military junta unexpectedly officially dissolved in 2011 and established a civilian parliament for a transitional period, during which former army bureaucrat and Prime Minister Thein Sein were appointed president.
• 2015: Myanmar held it’s first nationwide, multiparty elections—considered to be the freest and fairest elections in decades—since the country’s transition away from military rule.
  • Suu Kyi became Myanmar’s de facto leader in 2015.
• 2021 February: Government overthrown in a military coup.

Happening now

• In 2020, Myanmar held its second national elections under civilian rule, which Ms. Suu Kyi’s NLD party overwhelmingly won.
  • The military suffered a major blow in the elections: the USDP won just 33 of 476 available seats, while the NLD won 396.
• Military leaders alleged voter fraud, and after the country’s election commission rejected the military’s claims, it staged a coup in February 2021.
• The military is now back in charge and has declared a year-long state of emergency.
• It seized control on 1 February following a general election which Ms. Suu Kyi’s NLD party won by a landslide.
• The coup took place as a new session of parliament was set to open.

The country profile

• Myanmar, also known as Burma, is in South East Asia. It neighbors Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh, China, and India.
• The country gained independence from Britain in 1948.
• It was ruled by the armed forces from 1962 unƟ l 2011 when a new government began ushering in a return to civilian rule.
• The ruling military changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989.

Aung San Suu Kyi

• Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, is the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero, Gen Aung San who was assassinated just before the country gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948.
• She remained popular with the public despite spending years under house arrest
• She was released in 2010, and in November 2015 she led the NLD to a landslide victory in Myanmar’s first only contested election for 25 years and became de facto leader.