WUNRN
MYANMAR/BURMA - POTENTIAL IMMINENT
RELEASE FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Myanmar/Burma Military said to have signed order freeing Aung San Suu Kyi, but democracy activist demands unconditional release.
Aung San Suu Kyi says she felt
compelled to
act on behalf of the people of
November 12, 2010
- After seven years under house arrest and 15 of the last 21 incarcerated in
some form by Burma's
military regime, Aung San Suu Kyi today chose one last night of
imprisonment so that she might walk truly free.
As speculation over her imminent
release reached fever pitch in her home city of
Mid-afternoon Burma time, the
Guardian understands, the 65-year-old was told she was free to leave the
two-storey lakeside villa which the junta had made her prison for most of this
decade.
Attached to her release, the
military sought to impose strict conditions, understood to be restrictions on
where she could travel within
It was rumoured that Aung San Suu
Kyi,
From early morning in Rangoon,
expectation had grown that Aung San Suu Kyi's release was imminent and could
come, with truly Burmese unpredictability, a single day before the 13 November,
the day her sentence was due to end.
Across the city, truckloads of
police, dressed in riot gear and carrying assault rifles, were stationed at key
intersections, at government buildings and at
As a rumour swept
Watched from behind the barbed
wire by a wary police and military presence, the crowd waited quietly, joined
by diplomats and a few dozen western journalists, most in the country illegally
and whose pretence as tourists was now uncovered.
Plainclothed special branch
police officers moved openly through the crowd filming and photographing the
people who had turned out to support, and those from the media who had turned
out to cover, "The Lady's" release.
At the same time, thousands more
supporters gathered at the nearby headquarters of Aung San Suu Kyi's now-banned
political party, the National League for Democracy.
It is there she was expected to speak
publicly for the first time when she finally left her home.
Neither meeting was boisterous or
rowdy. There were no signs, no chanting of slogans.
Security forces were not
aggressive towards those gathered. But there was a palpable sense of expectation,
which faltered, and faded as hours ticked by without word or movement from
beyond the barricades.
At dusk, word filtered through to
the crowd that negotiations, whatever shape they were taking, had reached an
impasse.U Win Tin, co-founder of the NLD, appeared at the roadblock in a taxi
to tell Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters they would not see her tonight.
He said Aung San Suu Kyi had been
told, "she could go this day", but that it was likely it would be one
more night before she emerged in public.
Earlier, he had predicted she
would defy any conditions placed on her by the military, which had imposed
restrictions on her travel and freedom to associate during her previous brief
spells of liberty. "She's the daughter of our national hero [General Aung
San, commander of the Burma Independence Army]. She won't quit politics, no
matter what the military junta offers."
Speculation surrounding Aung San
Suu Kyi, her impending release and just how much freedom she will be allowed,
has overshadowed the emerging results of Burma's first general election in 20
years, held last Sunday.
While no official declaration has
been made, the military junta appears to have claimed an overwhelming victory
for its own party, a result that has surprised no one.
The Union Solidarity and
Development Party – bankrolled by military largesse and stacked with generals
who have swapped fatigues for suits – has said it has won more than 80% of
seats decided so far in a blatantly rigged election.
International observers have
described the poll as a sham – US President Barack Obama accused the junta of
"stealing" the election – and polling day was marred by widespread
reports of voter coercion, intimidation and bribery.
Of 472 seats decided since last
Sunday's poll, the junta's party has won 396, dwarfing all 36 other parties
combined.
All told, 1,152 seats are to be
decided across regional parliaments and a national upper and lower house. And
while the junta has claimed these elections as a significant milestone on its
roadmap to civilian democracy,
Prime Minister Thein Sein has
been elected, along with the junta's number three, Shwe Mann, considered by
most to be the "man most likely" to take over from the reclusive
Senior General Than Shwe, who did not contest the election.
Such a result was predicted weeks
ago. The junta-backed party had almost 10 times as many candidates as the
largest opposition party, and millions of state dollars backing its campaign.
As well, the country's new
constitution, brought into force by the poll, entrenches military rule by
guaranteeing 25% of parliamentary seats, as well as key ministries, for the
army.