- Long-awaited elections are set for next year, the final destination on Myanmar’s “road map” to democracy, but it is far from clear what civilian rule will look like after almost 50 years of army rule.
Will polls bring change to army-ruled Myanmar?
The junta has promised the vote will be free, fair and inclusive. But with no date set, electoral laws yet to be drafted and opposition politicians still in jail, more questions than answers surround the first elections in the resource-rich Southeast Asian nation in 20 years.
What is not in doubt, analysts say, is that the junta will do whatever it takes to ensure that real control over the former British colony will remain with the military or its proxies.
“Future governments might be civilianized, but they certainly won’t be civilian,” said David Steinberg, a veteran Myanmar analyst at Georgetown University in Washington.
“The military will still have ultimate control. They believe that in the long term, they are the only institution capable of keeping the country together.”
A glance at the new constitution leaves little doubt the military will run the show in the former Burma, and few expect the Burmese people will get much say.
The military has reserved 25 percent of house seats for itself, as well as control over key ministries and appointments. The chief of the armed forces will outrank the elected president and be able to assume power “in times of emergency.”
Critics have therefore derided the seven-stage “road map” as a blueprint to legitimize military rule and ensure it retains a strong grip on power. continue
Will polls bring change to army-ruled Myanmar?
