In her March 30, 2017 State of the Union speech, Aung San Suu Kyi
said:
“So, if you all think I am not good enough for our country and our people,
if someone or some organization can do better than us, we are ready to
step down.”
Fair enough. Suu Kyi has proven herself unfit to lead Burma, also known as
Myanmar, in countless ways, foremost among them:
She refuses to speak out against and otherwise work to end the crimes
against humanity perpetrated by the Burma Army and the Police against the
country’s ethnic minorities. These include at present the genocide of the
Rohingya in the West and the Civil War against the Kachin and other groups
in the North, and in prior years against the Shan, Karenni and Karen. She
has signaled her intention to block a United Nations investigation into
the atrocities being committed against the Rohingya.
She acts as an autocrat in her own right, ignoring advice from dedicated
civil society groups, and opposing protests by the public when they
attempt to protect their rights.
She has supported the military regime’s racial prejudices, including by
refusing to field Muslim candidates for Parliament under the National
League for Democracy banner.
She has helped business cronies of the regime, and taken donations from
them, at the same time failing to implement a program to reverse the
appalling poverty that the people of Burma endure.
Suu Kyi has been in power for a year, and some people are saying that she
should be given more time. But she has actually been a Member of
Parliament already for five years, and she has been a “pro-democracy”
leader for twenty-nine. What has she really done? Why has she refused to
use her voice to energize the people to oppose the generals? If she hasn’t
done anything strong and decisive in all this time, is there any reason to
expect that she, or Burma under her leadership, will change?
Aung San Suu Kyi should fulfill her pledge and step down from her
positions as State Counsellor, MP, and head of the NLD. She should retire
from the political scene. Burma needs new democratic leadership, now.
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