With the Myanmar General Election slated for November, five years of stalled peace negotiations, broken promises and stunted economic prosperity for ethnic minority groups may prove the undoing of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
In November 2015, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi took to the podium a national hero as National League for Democracy leader having delivered Myanmar, a ‘pariah state’ for decades, into a parliamentary democracy following a landmark election victory.
Buddhism is the most common religion , followed by Islam, Christianity, Hindu, with Animism still practiced. Ethnically there are 135 groups, with Bamar being the most populist at 68% of the population. It’s the Bamar who’ve held power since independence in 1948, today dominating the NLD, the former governing pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party , as well as the powerful military itself.
«So, one could argue that the NLD’s attempt to push through legislation in February and March 2020 was largely a symbolic gesture,» Marston added.
That lack of redistribution of power has been a bitter pill to swallow for ethnic minorities, and will rally support for the ethnic parties.
Constitutional changes need 75% support from parliament, so unless the military back the changes – any reforms are doomed
This article was written by MARY BANFIELD AND MORRIS AVERILL
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