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Tuesday, March 2, 2021

ASEAN: Wake Up and Smell the Burmese Spring

Demonstrators hold placards calling for the release of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest against the Myanmar military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar, 22 February 2021. Photo by LYNN BO BO/​EPA-EFE/​Shutterstock

This year, spring came early to Burma. It arrived not with a splash of rain but with thunderous voices calling for democracy. The demonstrations in the country had been growing unabated for the past three weeks, but this Monday, in the general strike of the five 2s (2-22-2021), the movement reached a milestone.

“The photos of yesterday's massive crowds are breathtaking. Millions marched despite the junta's ‘loss of life’ threats,” remarked UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews in a Tweet, published in both English and Burmese.

The marches live-streamed to Facebook and Twitter from inside the country showed endless waves of humanity, flowing through the hearts of Yangon, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, and even far-flung Myitkyina in the northern edge of the map. The engineers in blue uniforms, teachers and nurses in their white shirts, and ethnic groups in their traditional outfits turned the cities’ streets into rivers of colors. This was Burmese Spring in full bloom, ushered in by an unwelcomed military coup.

In a series of predawn raids on February 1, the Burmese Military, headed by the commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, launched a coup, detaining activists and civilian government leaders, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Burma’s progress in the last ten years of quasi-civilian rule had been fraught with serious missteps and violations, most notably the Rohingya crisis; nevertheless, it was a country inching toward democracy, aspiring to be something greater. With the coup, all the precious gains—from press freedom and human rights to reliable Internet—disappeared overnight. The dreadful repressive atmosphere returns, with the police and army breaking down doors and arresting dissidents on a whim. According to the March 1st tally of the Burma-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1213 people have been arrested since the coup. 

In the troubled transition period between 2011 and 2021, the young people—Burma’s Gen Z—have tasted the fruits of freedom. They have launched and run startups from cramped attics and candlelit rooms; have held respectable jobs in NGOs and worked alongside international partners; have gone abroad and given presentations as cultural ambassadors. If this is what’s possible under a flawed democracy, imagine what they can pursue and accomplish in a fully democratic Burma. The recent coup threatens their lives as well as their futures. That is why, despite the army’s threats of violence and arrests, they continue to show up in unprecedented numbers at the protests; and lead the fervent call for civil disobedience to put the coup leaders and their administrative functions in a chokehold.

Their courage and resilience have garnered praises and support from world leaders. “The people of Burma are making their voices heard, and the world is watching,” said U.S. President Joe Biden on February 10, as he announced the first round of sanctions targeted at the military leaders. This was followed by similar moves from the UK and Canada, with the EU expected to announce its own sanctions soon.

By contrast, the reaction from ASEAN, comprising neighboring countries that stand to lose most from the resulting regional instability, is anything but decisive. According to Reuters on February 22, “Indonesia ispushing Southeast Asian neighbors to agree on an action plan over Myanmar’scoup that would keep the junta to its promise of holding elections, withmonitors to ensure they are fair and inclusive.”

Understandably, the news drew fire from the protesters, who saw this as a betrayal to their cause. They had been risking their lives to defend the outcome of the last election. Nobody on the street was chanting “We want new elections!”

Besides, with this coup, the Burmese military has shown a blatant disregard for the will of the people, who overwhelmingly voted for Suu Kyi’s NLD Party in November 2020. The junta’s claim that there had been voting irregularities was unsubstantiated. The arrests of the Union Election Commission members point to the military’s plan to obtain the nonexistent evidence through coercion and intimidation.

If ASEAN is not prepared to take punitive actions against the junta for its recent assaults on a democratically elected government and the democratic processes, what assurance can it possibly offer the people of Burma it will act differently when the military refuses to honor its pledge in the future?

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has since scrapped her planned visit to Myanmar, fearing it might legitimize the junta. Her spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah has also clarified new elections in Myanmar “is not Indonesia’s position.” Marsudi did meet with Wunna Maung Lwin,a representative of the junta, in Thailand, as reported by Reuters on February 23, but the details of the meeting were not released.

On March 1, after the military's bloody Sunday crackdown of the protests led to 18 deaths in a single day, the usually reticent ASEAN finally showed some signs of discomfort. 

Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan said, "We are appalled by the use of lethal force against civilians ... The use of lethal weapon against unarmed civilians is inexcusable in all circumstances. We call on the Myanmar military to exercise the utmost restraint." At the end of the summit on Tuesday March 2, ASEAN still has no breakthrough on the crisis in Myanmar, as reported by Reuters. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said he would do everything within his power to “make sure that this coup fails.” It’s also in the interest of ASEAN to see that the coup in Burma does not succeed. If it does, it sets a chilling precedence that jeopardizes the other regional democracies.

With their entrepreneurial spirit and tech savvy, Burma’s Gen Z is poised to play a crucial role in Asia’s development and transformation. They are the rising tigers and dragons of the region. They are the flowers of the Burmese Spring. ASEAN may not be prepared for their early arrival, but it should stand with them, welcome them, nurture them, and stop cajoling the junta that’s trying to snuff out their hopes and dreams.

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