a 'tragic end' for Aung San Suu Kyi?

The Burmese media has spoken out against democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the first time since her release from house arrest back in November.

This criticism is almost a retaliation to the statement made a few days ago by the NLD, showing their support of the sanctions placed on Burma. The Burmese military junta have always spoken out against the sanctions placed upon them, as they say that they harm the people more than the country, and have caused even more poverty in the country. However, it is widely recognised in the international community that these sanctions effectively hinder the military regime from prospering, without harming the people to a great extent.

Along with saying that the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi would 'meet a tragic end' if they continued to speak out, the Burmese media (which is, of course, completely state run) also threw out other insults, such as calling the party 'Big headed' and saying that they are ignoring that Burma is 'marching towards a new era'. The statement released also mentioned that it wanted the NLD to 'co-operate' with the Burmese military, although it did not say what this co-operation would entail.

I feel that this statement is the government's attempt to try and suppress and blacken the name of the NLD, who, despite being disbanded in november of last year, have been extremely active and prominent on the international scene recently. However, there is so much support behind the NLD that i feel that it is a wasted effort on behalf of the military junta, and will influence very few, even in Burma. 

A different take on democracy.

Here is a link to an article from 'the Myanmar times', announcing the election of president Thein Sein. The article describes how Sein won the election by a margin of 200 votes, and the intricacies of Burma's constitution, for example, the article states how the president is not allowed to serve more than two terms in a row, both lasting five years.

I found this article surprisingly unbiased, as it talked not only about the military party, but also about the other democratic parties who were running for seats in the election last November. Also, there is a somewhat skeptical tone to the article when it discusses Burma's newly found 'democracy'. However, despite being relatively unbiased and unlikely to be propaganda from the military, we cannot totally trust the article as a source of information, as it is widely known that media and foreign correspondence in Burma is highly censored.

http://www.mmtimes.com/2011/news/561/news56109.html 

Parliment is opening...

Even though official election results have not been released, the new government will meet tomorrow as a 'democratically' elected government for the first time since the general elections in november. The military junta-linked party have also said that they won the elections with about 80% of the votes, and a quarter of the seats in parliament have been reserved for the military. The country's newspaper, 'The New Light of Myanmar' states that the elections have created a feeling of independence and patriotism, and that the election results were the 'fruit of democracy'. 

The new light of Myanmar

The 'New Light of Myanmar' is Burma's longest running newspaper and is published daily in both English and Burmese. It is government run and a large propaganda tool for them, with many articles about military officials. Here is a link to the english online version:

http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html