Myanmar General Elections Have No Meaning For Rohingya Muslims And Other Ethnic Minorities
By S. Arshad, New Age
Islam
10 November
2020
The second
general elections of Myanmar after 2015 have given a clear victory to Aung San
Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy (NLD) but the elections and its
results have no meaning for 1.6 million Rohingya Muslims who have been
disenfranchised and were barred from participating in November 8 voting.
Presently, 1.1 million Rohingyas are lodged in refugee camps in Bangladesh
while another half million Rohingya Muslims are living in the Rakhine state
where other ethic minorities have been fighting against the NLD government and
the army.
Rohingya refugees/Photo
courtesy Oulitzee Center
-----
Not only
Rohingya Muslims but also other ethnic minorities in Rakhine and Shan states
have been disenfranchised on the grounds of the ongoing fight between the
Myanmar army the Arakan Army. The Arakan National Party represents the ethnic
minority of Rakhine state and has been fighting for autonomy for the Rakhine
region.
Aung San Suu
Kyi's party NLD is very weak in the region and she knew that if elections were
held in this state, her party will lose and Arakan National Party will emerge
as a dominant political force and the movement for Rakhine's autonomy will get
more strength. Therefore, at the pretext of insurgency and disturbance in the
region the government and the Union Election Commission cancelled the elections
in Rakhine and some other parts of the country where ethnic minorities are in
majority to ensure victory for her party and weaken the opposition.
Rohingya
Muslims of Rakhine state have already been disenfranchised and their political
leaders were barred from contesting the elections. Therefore, the Democracy and
Human Rights Party, a political party representing the Rohingyas was not
allowed to contest the elections.
Aung San Suu Kyi/ Photo
Courtesy CNN World
-----
Though the
opposition and the military had suggested that in view of a surge in Covid-19
cases and the intensified insurgency in the country, the elections should be
deferred but the Suu Kyi government went ahead with the polls after cancelling
elections in the insurgency-hit regions.
But the
political analysts are of the opinion that by disenfranchising the ethnic
minorities of Rakhine and Shan states, the government has further alienated the
minorities of Rakhine and the people of the region will become more hostile
towards Suu Kyi's government. But the Suu Kyi is riding high on popularity wave
and so does not care for any criticism.
The 2020
elections have come in for criticism from the UN and Human Rights Watch for
being not transparent and for the non-inclusion of ethnic minorities in the
voting process. About 4.5% of the total voters have not been able to use their
voting rights. This is a very serious issue which has been noticed by the world
bodies.
Human
Rights Watch has termed the elections as "fundamentally flawed" and
denounced the Suu Kyi government for depriving the Rohingyas of their voting
rights.
UN Special
Investigator in Myanmar Thomas Andrews expressed concerns over
non-participation of Rohingyas in the elections. He had earlier said that
without the participation of Rohingyas, the elections could not be considered
free and fair.
The UN
Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez has expressed hope that the new government
would allow Rohingyas to return to Myanmar with safety and dignity. But giving
the mandate of the majority Barmars (majority Buddhist community) to Suu Kyi's
anti-Rohingya policies, it seems a far cry.
The
Rohingyas trapped in the refugee camps in Bangladesh have watched the Myanmar
elections with frustration and despair. They had pinned their hopes on the
Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi who had come to power with a landslide victory
in the first elections in 2015 but her connivance with the army in the genocide
of the Rohingyas in 2017 shattered all their hopes.
Although
she had come to power with the promise of change and peace, she did not do much
for change, her critics observe. On the contrary, she played at the hands of
the Army which has 25% reserved seats for it in the Myanmar legislature and has
the power to veto any bill for constitutional changes in the country. Instead
of taking reconciliatory steps to woo the rebel ethic communities, the Suu Kyi
has further alienated by disenfranchising them. She only cares for the majority
community and the army. She won the support of the majority Buddhist community
and the army by defending the army and the majority Buddhist community against
the accusations of genocide of Rohingyas in the International Court of Justice
in December last year.
On the
whole, the new government led by Aung San Suu Kyi will hold little promise for
the ethnic minorities particularly the Rohingyas of Myanmar.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/myanmar-general-elections-no-meaning/d/123431
New
Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism