After the completely rigged and fraudulent elections in Burma in which the Burma military backed Union Solidarity and Development party (USDP) won the majority of seats and now seeks to form a government, will the release of Suu Kyi mark a new beginning as a step towards "real' democracy in Burma?
Suu Kyi's role in the political process is now inevitable as now she is a political icon and her house arrest has made her a supposedly more powerful politician than any other political figure in Burma. Circumstances will now possibly make her more active in politics than ever before. Her political advantages are her image, her power, her international support and her control on the Burmese people. She would probably be able to rebuild her party the (National League for Democracy) NLD very quickly with new members and within a year or two she would possibly win widespread political support from the people and could demand a mandate through free and fair elections. But this is just a possibility.
The 2010 Burmese elections should be globally denounced as fake and fraudulent and the US, United Nations and leaders of the EU should be united in denouncing the elections and should also refuse to acknowledge the election results until fresh elections with the participation of all political party members including Burmese political prisoners are held. The United Nations already suggested that Burmese dictator Than Shwe and his affiliates could be referred to the International Criminal Court. However this was a half-hearted statement and the UN is still in a stage of monitoring the situation in Burma. The 2010 elections and democratization of the military rule could well deter the UN from referring Than Shwe to the ICC. This would mean that in the absence of strict action by the UN, there would be no reference to the ICC and the Burmese junta members would continue to hold power but now as political party members.
The military rule has given way to a sham democracy although Suu Kyi's release could mean that there would soon be more international participation in the political process of Burma. With higher international monitoring and more human rights organizations in the region, it is possible that there would be a change at all levels with more power to Suu Kyi and her party members and gradual weakening of her opposition party members.
Thus there could be two scenarios possible:
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
