November 16, 2015
ASIA / PACIFIC
Aung San Suu Kyi wins seat,
requests meeting with military
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 5
2 9 t h a nnua l nei gh bor h ood
By Vijay Joshi and Esther Htusan
The Associated Press
ANGON,
Myanmar
—
Myanmar’s opposition leader,
Aung San Suu Kyi, has won
her parliamentary seat, according to
official results, leading a near total
sweep by her party that will give the
country its first government in
decades that isn’t under the
military’s sway.
While the win assures the National
League for Democracy (NLD) of
electing the next president, Suu Kyi
is barred from becoming president by
a constitutional hurdle inserted by
the junta when it transferred power
in 2011 to a quasi-civilian govern-
ment. Still, she recently declared that
she will be the country’s de facto
leader, acting “above the president,”
when her party forms the next
government.
In an interview with Singapore’s
Channel News Asia television, Suu
Kyi reiterated that plan.
“I make all the decisions because
I’m the leader of the winning party.
And the president will be one whom
we will choose just in order to meet
the requirements of the constitution,”
she said. “He (the president) will have
to understand this perfectly well that
he will have no authority. That he
will act in accordance with the
positions of the party.”
In a sign she intends to play a key
role, Suu Kyi requested meetings
with the military chief, current
president, and the chairman of
parliament, apparently to discuss the
formation of the new government. It
is “very crucial that the government
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For Imago Theatre’s production of
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directed by Jerry Mouawad
PENDING POWER. Aung San Suu Kyi, right, the leader of the National League for Democracy
party in Myanmar (also known as Burma), delivers a speech with party patron Tin Oo from a balcony
of the National League for Democracy’s headquarters in Yangon. Suu Kyi won her parliamentary
seat, according to official results, leading a near total sweep by her party that will give the country
its first government in decades that isn’t under the military’s sway. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
implements, for the pride of the
country and the peaceful desire of
people,” the results of the November 8
election, she said in three letters.
President Thein Sein’s spokesman,
Ye Htut, said on his Facebook page
that the meeting with Suu Kyi can
take place only after all official
results are in. He said the
government and the military will
respect the results of the “free and
fair elections.”
The military, which took power in a
1962 coup and brutally suppressed
several pro-democracy uprisings dur-
ing its rule, gave way to a nominally
civilian elected government in 2011
— with strings attached.
The army installed retired senior
officers in the ruling party to fill
cabinet posts and granted itself
constitutional powers, including
control of powerful ministries and a
quarter of the seats in the
664-member two-chamber parlia-
ment. In a state of emergency, a
special military-led body can even
assume state powers. Another
provision bars Suu Kyi from the
presidency because her sons hold
foreign citizenship.
And while Myanmar’s people voted
overwhelmingly to remove the
military-backed Union Solidarity and
Development Party (USDP) from
power, it’s clear that the military’s
involvement in the Southeast Asian
nation’s politics would not end.
“Sunday’s poll does not mark
democracy’s triumph in Burma,” said
Ellen Bork of the Foreign Policy
Initiative, a Washington-based think
tank. “Over the past few years, it has
Continued on page 16
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Copycat logos in Myanmar’s election: fair or foul?
By Denis D. Gray
The Associated Press
ANGON, Myanmar — Voters
in Myanmar’s landmark
election stumbled into a
virtual aviary when they saw their
ballot papers. And the confusion
ruffled political feathers.
Nine of the contesting political
parties used a peacock as their logo,
with most bearing a striking
resemblance to that of the party
headed by pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. At least three
other parties used other birds.
That meant every ballot included
many variations, some very slight, on
Suu Kyi’s emblem, a “fighting
peacock” flying toward a white star.
All the avian logos are set against the
same dark red background.
It was a ploy, some thought, to fool
illiterate or rushed voters to
accidentally pick another party
instead of Suu Kyi’s National League
for Democracy (NLD). The NLD won
big against the military-backed
United Solidarity and Development
Party. Nobody imitated its logo, a
single star on a field of green and red.
Asked to point out the NLD symbol
among a display of feathery logos,
taxi driver Yangon Than Oo wasn’t
sure.
“Is this the one with the star?” he
asked uncertainly.
NLD spokesman Nyan Win was not
pleased.
“As a lawyer, I want to say that
these similarities are wrong,” he said
in an interview. He said the party
complained to the Union Election
Commission, which oversaw the
fiercely contested election. The
Y
FOWL FOUL. Supporters of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democ-
racy party wave the party flag during a campaign rally for the general election in Meiktila, Mandalay
Region, Myanmar (also known as Burma). Nine of the political parties that contested the country’s
historic election use the peacock as their logo, with most bearing a striking resemblance to that of
the party headed by pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi. (AP Photo/Hkun Lat)
commission, he added, had taken no
action.
But commission spokesman Than
Sint Aung said the NLD complaint
came in after the deadline, and noted
that names of parties appeared on
ballots next to logos. Plus, he added:
“The peacock logo has been used since
a long time ago. Myanmar people
think it is really good.”
Along with the white elephant and
the chinthe — the mythical, lion-like
creature which guards Buddhist
temples — the peacock is a long-
honored national icon with roots in
Buddhism and animist beliefs.
The dancing peacock — the bird in
courtship or feather display — was
emblematic of Myanmar’s last
monarchy and an aggressively posed
fighting peacock served the anti-
British struggle of the 1930s led by
independence hero Aung San, Suu
Kyi’s father. It appeared on the flag of
students who led a bloody,
unsuccessful uprising in 1988 and
has since been associated with the
struggle against the military.
Zay Ta, chairman of the New
Society Party, said its symbol — four
stars and a peacock — was created to
honor the 1988 students and not
intended as an imitation.
Others disagreed.
“They want to confuse us ... [to] vote
for the wrong party. But if you really
know the party you want to vote for,
you will get it right,” said Nay Chi
Lin, a 22-year-old hotel employee who
rapidly pointed to the NLD logo on
the display sheet. Nearby, Win Zaw,
44, also got it right. But his wife
hesitated and pointed to another
party’s logo.
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