Aung San Suu Kyi’s tenacity, patience and commitment to peaceful and democratic methods seem finally to have paid off, with her party winning 43 out of 44 ‘open’ parliamentary seats in a Burmese by-election. One hopes that these electoral gains do indeed mark “the beginning of a new era” in Burma’s politics that she has predicted.
There is still a long way to go. The army controls 80 per cent of parliamentary seats in Burma, and between 600 and 1,000 pro-democracy activists are being held as political prisoners. But Aung San Suu Kyi has at least given her people room for hope.
It would have been understandable if she had emerged embittered from the almost 22 years she spent under house arrest, but Suu Kyi maintained her dignity and principles, and continues to set a shining example to the Burmese people and to democracy activists everywhere.
John O’Shea
Goal
