Democracy in Myanmar: The failure of another Asian democracy in late modernity

Abstract

Can Myanmar ever become a genuine democracy? It appears that ever since the exit of the British forces in the post-WWII era, any form of genuine democracy remains an impossible dream for that naturally wealthy regime. Democracy does not appear to be synonymous with Burma or what is now called Myanmar. On August 27, 2023, the Myanmar Junta expelled Timor-Leste’s ambassador over allegations of authoritarianism, calling the locallybased anti-coup shadow government a sham. The two Southeast Asian states have been at loggerheads since early 2021 due to widespread clashes in Naypyidaw over the National Unity Government (NUG) [(1):746]. The Southeast Asian nations have been locked in a crisis since the Myanmar military seized power (again) in February 2021 after another failed (and mostly public) experiment with democracy that had led to widespread political violence. The official Myanmar news agencies that remain the voice of the junta have condemned the anti-coup demonstrations. Most ASEAN states-Vietnam, Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei– have failed to attempt to broker any compromise that could solve the problem. Only Thailand and Timor-Leste have attempted to resolve the political violence. Jakarta tends to remain “neutral” or uncommitted to any arguments over Timor-Leste (and in this case the expulsion of the Timor-Leste Ambassador to Myanmar in late August 2023) because Indonesia (under Suharto) had not only annexed Timor-Leste under Suharto but also was committed to the widespread use of political violence and other human rights’ atrocities by the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) against the largely peaceful Catholics and Christians under former rebel leader Xanana Gusmao. The current crisis Napidydaw now faces invites many human rights observers and Amnesty International advocates to raise questions about Myanmar’s poor record since the British left after the post-WWII era. The paper attempts to explain why democracy remains a problem in Myanmar. It uses a seven-question democratic framework to determine feasibility of democracy in Myanmar today.