It has long been the mantra of Myanmar’s leader-in-waiting Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, echoed by Western governments and activist groups, that the greatest obstacle to the introduction of a true democracy in Myanmar has been the country’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw. This claim over-simplifies a complex issue, but is essentially correct.
The irony is that both sides share many of the same goals. It would not be a comfortable arrangement but, if they worked together, the same power and resources that make the Tatmadaw such an issue for the NLD could be harnessed to help the party tackle Myanmar’s many problems after it takes over the government in March.
Myanmar once boasted the modern world’s most durable military dictatorship. After General Ne Win’s coup in 1962, the Tatmadaw ruled with an iron fist. The country’s fledgling democratic institutions were abolished, to be replaced in 1974 by a sham parliament that simply disguised the armed forces’ continued rule.
Please click here to read the full Myanmar’s armed forces: obstacle or ally for reform? article in the Nikkei Asian Review by Griffith Asia Institute Adjunct Associate Professor, Dr Andrew Selth.
