HISTORY
POST-1990 MYANMAR
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1990
In May the National
League for Democracy
(NLD), led by Aung San
Suu Kyi, conclusively
wins the fi rst
nationwide election
in three decades, but
the military refuses to
relinquish power.1995
Aung San Suu Kyi
released from
house arrest. The
government uses
forced labour to ready
some sites for ‘Visit
Myanmar Year’; NLD
and other activist
groups launch a
tourism boycott.1997
US and Canada
impose investment
ban on Myanmar.
State Law & Order
Restoration Council
(Slorc) changes name
to the State Peace &
Development Council.
Myanmar joins Asean.2000
The EU intensifi es its
economic sanctions
against Myanmar,
citing continued
human rights abuses
in the country. Aung
San Suu Kyi again
under house arrest
until May 2002.she is aff ectionately known) detained at a military roadblock. After spend-
ing six days in her car by the roadside, Suu Kyi was once again placed
under house arrest. Save for barely a year between 6 May 2002 and 30 May
2003, she would spend the next decade shut away from the public.Than Shwe Takes Over
In the 1990s, after years of isolation from the rest of the world, the junta
actively tried to launch Myanmar as a tourist destination. But there was
a disappointing turnout for the offi cial ‘Visit Myanmar Year 1996’ (partly
due to the tourism boycott launched by the NLD and others). Increased
sanctions from the West led the government to seek other sources of
income: namely from trade withChina, India and Thailand.
Khin Nyunt, head of military intelligence and a protégé of Ne Win
(who died, disgraced and living in obscurity, in 2002), became Prime
Minister in 200 3. Khin Nyunt took the lead on the junta’s seven-step
‘roadmap towards discipline-fl ourishing democracy’. But in 2004 hard-
liner Senior General Than Shwe ousted Khin Nyunt and many of his
fellow intelligence offi cers; at a secret trial Khin Nyunt was sentenced to
44 years in jail and is believed to currently be under house arrest.
Than Shwe initially promised to continue the transition to democ-
racy, but instead his activity showed a focus on negotiating multimillion-
dollar trade deals with China, India and Thailand, and importing weap-
ons and military know-how from Russia and North Korea.
In 2005, an entirely new capital city was created in the arid fi elds near
Pyinmana, a move widely viewed as enormously expensive and wasteful,
including by China, a nation otherwise disinclined to comment on the
activities of its neighbour and trade partner. The junta named the city-
in-the-making Nay Pyi Taw (Royal Capital), leaving little doubt that Than
Shwe’s strategies and inspirations were aligned less with the modern
world than with Burmese kings of centuries past.The ‘Saff ron Revolution’
In mid-2007, natural gas prices rose by 500% (and petrol by 200%), lead-
ing to price hikes for everything from localbus tickets to rice. In late
August a group of ‘1988 generation’ protestors were arrested for staging
a march against the infl ation. On 5 September, when monks denounced
the price hikes in a demonstration in Pakokku, the protests escalated. The
military responded with gunfi re and allegedly beat one monk to death.
In response, the All Burma Monks Alliance (ABMA) was formed, de-
nouncing the ruling government as an ‘evil military dictatorship’ and
refusing to give alms to military offi cials (a practice called pattam mikku-
jana kamma). By 17 September daily marches began, swelling in numbers
across major cities including Yangon, Mandalay, Meiktila and Sittwe.Than Shwe: Un-
masking Burma’s
Tyrant by Ben-
edict Rogers is
an unauthorised
biography of the
secretive senior
general who,
many believe, still
calls the shots in
Myanmar.THAN SHWE