Suu Kyi free: Her leadership still relevant

Aung San Suu Kyi's release will no doubt raise hopes and expectations. She is not just the leader of her own party, the National League for Democracy, but is also regarded as the national leader in Myanmar.

In her absence, critics have questioned her relevance and popularity, suggesting that she no longer represented a majority of Burmese people. They were wrong.

Britain's Myanmar ambassador Andrew Heyn has the answer: "As for her relevance, all the evidence points to a regime that still fears that she is very relevant." Myanmar's oppressed citizens have not forgotten her.

Since the news of her imminent release reached residents in Yangon, many Burmese, including the younger generations who have never seen her in person, flocked into her party headquarters to show support and walked to her lakeside house, chanting and waiting for her release in spite of the presence of troops and riot police.

The question now is how she will confront challenges and the new political landscape in her country.

The regime has just held a general election and rigged the votes and will soon claim "victory" with an improbable 80 per cent of the vote. It will form a new government and convene Parliament. But Suu Kyi won't be sitting there. So the generals may think they have sidelined her effectively.

This calculation could be wrong. Myanmar's sullen military leaders have taken a political risk to free the immensely popular democracy leader, but they might have also thought that, since they are in full control of the situation in the country and secured their role in future politics, her freedom was a risk worth taking. But she could remain a thorn in their side.

Despite its views and values, the Government has no shortage of friends. The Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) said the election was a significant step forward. China offered full backing to the election. Suu Kyi's struggle also won friends and admirers and she remains a symbol of democratic struggle in Myanmar.

It is believed that she will continue to call for political dialogue. She will also call for the regime to free more than 2000 political prisoners. More importantly, she will play a pivotal role in reconciling and restoring the unity of ethnic nationalities.

Before her release she was interested in the second Panglong Conference - the first one was held in 1947, a year before the country regained independence. At the conference, led by her father, several ethnic leaders formed a united front for independence.

Since Suu Kyi can win the trust of the divided ethnic nationalities in Myanmar, the second Panglong Conference is as important as the first. The question is whether the regime will allow it to take place. Suu Kyi wants to find a way to lift the international economic sanctions and is in favour of international humanitarian aid going into Myanmar and border regions.

The question is how the regime will react to her olive branch. And there is concern for her safety. The regime - which has cooked up charges against her in the past to lock her up - will remain unfriendly to Suu Kyi in spite of her release. What supporters don't want is for her to be Myanmar's Benazir Bhutto.

Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine - www.irrawaddy.org

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