Few people, in Burma or the outside world, had high expectations when last March the army handed power to a quasi-civilian government after decades of repressive military rule. The handover followed a tightly controlled, some say rigged, election under a new constitution that preserved vast military power, including the right automatically to appoint a quarter of the members of a new parliament. The designated president was hardly more promising. Thein Sein, a recently retired general, had made little impact in four years as prime minister during the junta led by army strongman Senior General Than Shwe.
Yet in just a few months as president, Thein Sein has shaken up the political scene in Burma, renamed Myanmar by the generals who forced their way to power in 1962. His inauguration speech in March set the tone. He outlined an agenda of inclusive economic development and promised to renew crumbling health and education systems, fight corruption, pass laws to protect fundamental human rights, and cooperate with those holding “different ideas and concepts” on issues of national interest.
Since then, Burma’s 60m long-suffering people have witnessed almost unimaginable change. Tight censorship has been eased to allow robust debates, criticism, and interviews with dissidents in domestic news publications. On the internet, once-inaccessible foreign news and opposition websites have been unblocked. Political exiles have been invited to return. Experts have been appointed to advise on reviving the distressed economy. Parliament – which has been televised, of all things – has held robust debate, adopted a new law permitting independent trade unions, and is considering legislation that would make it easier to protest.