Following its independence from Britain in 1948, Burma was ruled for twenty-six years by a military-dominated regime. During that time, there were no free elections, and little freedom of expression or association. Though resistance to the regime flared occasionally, student and worker-led demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s were consistently and brutally crushed. Torture, political imprisonment, and other human rights abuses were common.

Throughout this period, the military government waged costly guerrilla wars against ethnic opposition groups along the country's frontiers. The nation’s economy steadily deteriorated, and by mid-1988, rice shortages and popular discontent reached crisis proportions. That same year, the slaying of a student by police sparked demonstrations throughout Burma by university students who were soon joined by monks, civil servants, workers, as well by policemen and soldiers. On August eight of the year, known as "8-8-88'', hundreds of thousands of people nationwide marched to demand that the regime be replaced by an elected civilian government. Soldiers fired on crowds of unarmed protesters, killing thousands.

Later that year, the army responded to calls for democracy by announcing a coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The junta's next action upon taking power was to open fire with machine guns on demonstrators in Rangoon and other cities. The carnage was immense. While the exact number of casualties will never be known, it is estimated that as many as 10,000 people were killed. Thousands more were arrested and many were tortured. According to Amnesty International, over 2,000 political prisoners remain imprisoned today under harsh conditions.

The SLORC pledged that national elections would be held after "peace and tranquillity" were restored. But actions prior to the elections inspired little confidence in the process. In July 1989 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the most popular opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was placed under house arrest. Many other senior NLD officials were also jailed at this time.

Despite its lack of resources, the NLD won 392 (over 80%) of the 485 parliamentary seats contested on May 27, 1990. Ethnic minority parties opposed to the SLORC won 65 additional seats. The army-front NUP won only ten constituencies, a resounding rejection of military rule demonstrating the depth of the Burmese peoples’ alienation from the military regime, and the generals’ failure to recognize the reality of their unpopularity.

The junta's response to this overwhelming defeat was simply to change the rules. It declared that the election was not for parliament seats, but mostly for some members of a constituent assembly who would consider a new constitution. Repression intensified. Many NLD elected representatives were arrested, some of whom have since died in prison. Others fled into exile. One opposition member of elected to parliament, Dr. Sein Win, is now Prime Minister of the government-in-exile, the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB).

Today the junta rules by decree and return to civilian rule will likely require a new constitution. The NCGUB and the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), comprised of several ethnic groups and others fighting against the military regime, have produced a draft democratic constitution. But a military-controlled "National Convention" convened in Rangoon pronounced that it alone will produce the new national constitution. Its draft document, which enshrines military dominance over any future government and marginalizes Burma's ethnic minorities, has already been rejected by the democratic opposition. In November of 1995, the NLD withdrew from the National Convention, leaving the charter drafting process stalled to this date.

In July of 1995 after six years of house arrest during which she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was released. She continues to defy military intimidation and decrees by speaking out against the dictatorship and her story, in mid-2000, is still very much in the news. In 1998 repression was intensified as the army arrested hundreds of NLD activists, sentencing many of them to long prison terms. Burma's struggle for democracy, sadly, is far from over.

Sources: Soros Foundation