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History and Government
History: Previously known (and sometimes still referred to) as Burma, the area was populated through three waves of migration: by the Hmon people from what is now Cambodia, then by Mongol people from the eastern Himalayas and finally by Thais from northern Thailand. Unifying these disparate groups was a formidable task, first achieved by the Buddhist King Anawratha, to form the heart of a powerful Kingdom established during the ninth century. It lasted 200 years and was succeeded by the less stable Kingdom of Bagan. In 1287, Pagan collapsed before the invading Mongols, led by Genghis Khan’s grandson Kublai Khan. Following the demise of the Mongol empire at the end of the 14th century, Burma was carved up between warring tribes, with Siam (Thailand) the dominant force in the region, until the Tanugoo dynasty defeated Siam and reunified the country in the mid-16th century. By the mid-18th century, a new dynasty had been established under King Alaungpaya with its capital in Yangon but the country once again disintegrated as the Hmon tribes broke away to create their own kingdoms.
In 1824, the British, driven by imperial ambitions and goaded by repeated border clashes, annexed Burma as part of British India. In 1937 it was granted separate dominion status. During World War II, the Japanese expelled the British from Burma and attempted to co-opt Burmese political support by offering nominal independence under Japanese control. The opposition to the Japanese, who were defeated in 1944, was the nucleus of the post-war independence movement led by Aung San. A highly revered figure in present-day Myanmar, Aung San guided the country to independence in 1948 but was assassinated the same year. A military coup in 1962 brought to power Ne Win, who renamed the country Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma and imposed an idiosyncratic totalitarian dictatorship. In 1988, after years of bizarre policies, isolationism and chronic economic mismanagement by the then Burma Socialist Programme Party finally brought on a popular uprising, with students and Buddhist monks to the fore.
In September that year, the military stepped in. The demonstrations were brutally suppressed and the political upheaval brought to a halt. Far from threatening it, the putsch strengthened the position of Ne Win; the leader of the coup, General Saw Maung, and his senior staff were all known to be long-standing supporters of the reclusive dictator. Although Ne Win relinquished his official title as leader of the nation, he continued to exercise considerable influence over the running of the country. Ex-army General Tin Oo and the Western-educated liberal Aung Sang Suu Kyi, daughter of Aung San, led the principal internal opposition.
After crushing domestic political opposition, the Ne Win junta concluded in 1989 that some political concessions were essential (mostly to assuage international opinion) and announced that elections would be held. The main opposition movements campaigned under the banner of the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and won the election, which was held in May 1990, taking 80 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly. However, the regime used elaborate delaying tactics and harassment of opposition leaders to hold onto power; Suu Kyi herself was put under house arrest and remained there for five years.
The regime also faced several border insurgencies: the most effective of these was waged by the Karen tribe in the eastern part of the country, who were pursuing full independence and whose ranks periodically swelled by dissident students fleeing from the capital. However, by the end of the 1990s, the struggles of the Karen and the others had been quelled – or at least reduced to manageable levels – through a combination of force and negotiation.
During the early 1990s, the regime, which now styled itself the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), had become an international pariah. However, as the decade progressed, changes in the regime brought to the fore the ex-intelligence chief Khin Nyunt as the new SLORC strongman. A more astute figure than the ageing and increasingly demented Ne Win, he re-armed and shored up the Yangon regime by developing vital sources of revenue from logging, gem deposits and drug trafficking. In July 1997, Myanmar was admitted to full membership of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), thereby gaining an important degree of international legitimacy. Moreover, ASEAN policy stresses strict non-interference in the internal affairs of member states. SLORC’s decision in November 1997 to rename itself as the more media-friendly State Peace and Development Council was, perhaps, an indication of its confidence.
In September 2000, Aung San Suu Kyi was once again put under house arrest. But with the economy once again in serious difficulties and Myanmar largely isolated from the rest of the world, the junta was forced to negotiate with her. She was released, without conditions, in May 2002. The National League for Democracy, meanwhile, has been treated with more tolerance than before.
Government: A constituent assembly was elected in 1990 but is devoid of effective powers, all of which are held by the State Peace and Development Council (formerly the State law and Order restoration Committee, SLORC).
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