Star Power

Myanmar struggles with the idea of women as decision makers, particularly when the woman holds a public role. Yet the recent election saw a jump in the number of female office holders. Their representation in legislatures nearly tripled, from 5% to over 13%. That number still lags behind the country’s neighbors, and is far lower than the target of 30% that the UN claims is needed for parliaments to represent women's concerns.

Both health and education policy stand to gain in Myanmar because of the improved gender balance among legislators. Also, in this country there is one woman whose presence counts as several.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s victory helps build an alternate reality for Burmese women. She combines Eastern and Western, establishment and outsider, politician and activist, prisoner and freebird.

She even claims a certain military legacy, as her father, a general, is considered the founder of the modern armed forces in Myanmar. He remains an idol throughout the country, despite having been assassinated 68 years ago, when his daughter was just a toddler. It’s fair to say that nobody will ever again hold a pedigree like hers.

Plus, what villages, states, and institutions of all kinds in Myanmar always wait for is a hero. Ordinary people don’t think of success as coming through teamwork, but rather from following an inspiring leader.

Therefore the Lady’s years as leader of a majority party will be critical for making change here. Concerning the peace process in particular, she may have a unique set of attributes. Her father gets credit for a 1947 agreement, never implemented, that would have given ethnic groups a degree of autonomy that they have never truly possessed under a central government here.  

It’s unlikely the new political chapter now beginning here will lead to anything resembling what the West considers “women’s rights.” In past statements, “Mother Suu” has made clear she doesn’t consider herself a feminist. Even if she had such an agenda, the country’s general culture, and the military’s specific culture, might not be receptive. Yet simply by continuing to be at the front of the parade, she can’t help but ensure that a long line of women marches behind her.

Election Wrapup

Seven days ago people here slipped out early to polling stations and then came straight home. Many families even stocked up on food in case things went badly.

Despite the event being worthy of celebration, the powers-that-be managed to make it feel scary. The small group of leaders in Myanmar were allowing a more inclusive system to emerge, yet guaranteeing their right to clamp down if that system became unstable. 

By evening on election day, fear of violence slowly dissolved, replaced by excitement and confidence. Here in Yangon, streets that had been empty in the morning began to fill up. It became clear that citizens hadn’t paid a price to participate. Two days later, on a bus traveling to Naypyidaw, I noticed people proudly displaying their purple left pinkies: proof that they had voted.

The country savored that election delight throughout the week as reports grew of an absolute majority for the party whose slogan is “Time for Change.” The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, clearly has repeated its rout of 1990. Back then, the government refused to honor the outcome and instead arrested The Lady, as Suu Kyi is commonly known. This time, it appears the vote will be allowed to stand.

Which of course presents a whole new set of problems. The stunning results don’t instantly erase the countless challenges here. As one member of the ruling party was quoted as saying, “Our USDP lost completely. The NLD has won. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has to take responsibility now.” Among the headaches she inherits are tense relationships with ethnic armed groups, an out-of-balance economy, environmental damage, and pressures from neighboring countries.

The former junta has protected itself well by creating a complex political system that allows it to claim quasi-civilian status.

The Constitution provides its members a quarter of Parliament’s seats without having to run for them, plus control of key ministries and many other perks. The military can be embarrassed but never really lose. Some people suggest that despite the election outcome, real authority in the country remains with a few generals and a few wealthy families.

Aung San Suu Kyi and her party find themselves with all the responsibility but not enough power to create their “time for change.” Indeed, they’re in the weird position of needing to continue behaving as the minority opposition party, despite superiority in numbers. There can’t be too many places in the world where that’s the case.

The election season’s biggest losers may be Muslims. For the first time, they’re not represented in Parliament at all. Large numbers of them were prevented from voting, and parties that tried to run Muslim candidates often had their candidates rejected by the national election commission. Many say they feel less welcome in Myanmar than ever. Last month Yale Law School’s human rights clinic added its voice to other groups that claim genocide is being committed against the largest Muslim minority group in western Myanmar. Tragically, many people here aren’t shy about their anti-Muslim feelings. If the NLD were to take an inter-faith harmony stance, it might get a backlash.

Election observers throughout the country breathed easier this past week. Their biggest fear going into last Sunday had been some significant group refusing to accept the outcome. Advance voting wasn’t smooth, and on election day many townships were denied the chance to vote on questionable grounds. Yet the NLD, having won enough seats to pass bills and elect the president (a complicated process from which Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally excluded), was not likely to quibble with any irregularities reported. Military rulers this time showed no signs of repeating their 1990 annulment of the results.

Despite the many obstacles faced by Myanmar as it reforms the past several decades’ worth of mis-government, it’s still a wonderful time for the country. Lots of people worked very hard to carry out an election that for its peaceful nature alone can be thought of as a victory in itself.

Minbya Misfortune

Big flooding in late July and early August left its mark on many parts of Myanmar. The poorest regions of course suffer most. A British NGO sent me to check on one such region this week. Specifically, they want to know how well markets are functioning and what has happened to prices since the floods in Rakhine State’s Minbya Township.

Minbya was ranked by earlier flood assessments as among the most severely affected townships in the country. In many spots here, the water rose over 10 feet. Although Rakhine State is well-known for long and heavy monsoon seasons, nobody alive today can recall as extensive a flood in this region.

The NGO may decide to respond with a Cash-for-Rebuilding scheme, depending on what we learn about whether or not beneficiaries would have anywhere to spend the cash. So far it appears that the markets are open for business, that prices are up and sales are down.

This kind of assignment humbles me. The interviews we’re conducting with shopkeepers are nearly always cheerful, despite their descriptions of high water levels and stock losses. Yesterday we went by boat to an elbow in the Lemro River that is home to a market known as Pan Mrauk Gyi. Its location high on the river’s edge was a mixed blessing during July and August.

Shopkeepers in Pan Mrauk Gyi told us that flood depth and stock loss were generally lower for them than for sellers in the towns of Mrauk U and Minbya... except for the nearly one-third of shops that were swept away when the land slid at the center of the riverbend.

We interviewed one grandma whose wares were spread on the ground next to the new cliff edge. A makeshift green tarp above her kept the sun off. She said her shop formerly sat about 20 meters behind her, on the part of the riverbank that had crumbled into the deluge.

All of us became a little teary as she described what she had lost. There is no such thing as flood insurance here.