Myanmar’s government in hiding wants to repair the “mistakes” made by Aung San Suu Kyi in her treatment of the country’s Rohingya Muslims, one of its senior figures has said in a sign that the Nobel laureate’s is dwindling during her ongoing detention.
Suu Kyi, 75, has been held by the military government since it seized power in a coup ten weeks ago. In her absence, democratic politicians who have escaped arrest have been frank in acknowledging failures during her five years in power and setting out a new agenda.
“Some mistakes have been done and I wish that we could redo it all over again, but the past is past,” said Dr Sasa, the envoy to the United Nations of an emerging “unity government” in exile that opposes the junta.
“Like it or not, she’s the democratically elected leader of the country . . . She should be respected. But in terms of implementation, there were some weaknesses and mismanagement and mistakes. I have been working very, very hard to repair all the damage.”
Central among those mistakes was Suu Kyi’s ethnic cleansing of more than 700,000 Rohingya from the country in 2017. Despite her history as a defender of human rights, she treated the Rohingya as they are defined in Myanmar law — as stateless people without nationality rights.
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Suu Kyi travelled to the Hague to deny the charge, supported by the evidence of the UN, that her government was responsible for genocide. In doing so, she alienated many of those around the world who had been her supporters.
Since the coup and her arrest a new generation of politicians, including Sasa, are attempting to win back the goodwill that was lost by establishing a distance between themselves and the woman who remains by far the country’s most popular politician.
“Rohingya people have been there for centuries — they are part of the country,” said Sasa, a medical doctor and member of the Chin ethnic minority, who spoke of his “Rohingya sisters and brothers”.
He said that the 1982 citizenship law, the legislation that marginalises the Rohingya, would be abolished by a future democratic government. “In the future Myanmar, whether you are identified as indigenous or non-indigenous is not an issue. All your rights will be respected. There will be no room for discrimination again. I hope that’s loud and clear.”
Other believe that the government in exile is making commitments of which its leader would not approve. “Suu Kyi agreed with federalism in principle, she just didn’t put any real political effort into it,” David Mathieson, an independent analyst on Myanmar, said. “The [government in exile] recognises that crucial flaw and are trying to seek more inclusive ways forward but whether it’s too little too late is the question.”
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Sasa is a member of the Committee Representing the National Assembly (CRPH), which is made up of MPs from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy who were denied the chance to take up their seats by the coup.
The CRPH’s members are in hiding in Myanmar and overseas, but they are assembling a “national unity government” which claims to be the legitimate power in the country, including civil society groups, political parties and, crucially, ethnic minority organisations.
The CRPH’s acting vice-president is Mahn Win Khaing Than, a politician of the Karen ethnic group.
The CRPH is dedicated to a federal Myanmar that will give rights to ethnic regions, where at least 20 insurgent armies are fighting for independence and autonomy. Under Suu Kyi, there was little progress towards resolving these long-running wars.
“What are we dying for?” Sasa said. “We are dying for federal democracy, the only way to peace, prosperity and justice. When Aung San Suu Kyi hears about our plan I think she’ll be very happy and very proud of what we have done.”
