Times & Lives©

THE MOST FREQUENT QUESTION I GET FROM FOREIGNERS THESE DAYS IS: CAN AUNG SAN SUU KYI RULE? NO DOUBT THE NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE AND THE OPPOSITION LEADER HAS UNPARALLELED SKILLS. SHE HAS NUMEROUS GLOBAL ACCOLADES, INTERNATIONAL AND LOCAL SUPPORTS. BUT THE RECENT ELECTION WIN OF HER PARTY, THE NLD, CALLS FOR A NEW LEVEL OF QUALIFICATIONS TO BE ABLE TO LEAD AN ELECTED CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT, LAST SEEN IN BURMA SINCE 1962. IT'S A JOB most demanding of an activist-turned-politician. The job requires not only leading a civilian government but also cleaning up the mess former military governments left to rot in the country for several decades. Aung San Suu Kyi seemed to realize even before the Nov 8 polls, winning elections is one thing and leading a government is another. Hence, she drew a clear line between politicians and technocrats, separating their careers in a way that best suits the situation. After the elections, she told her elected representatives "not to fancy the p...

THE OPPOSITION PARTY, NLD, WON A LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN PARLIAMENTARY POLLS HELD ON NOV. 8. THE CHARISMATIC PARTY LEADER, AUNG SAN SUU KYI, SAYS THE WINNER IS NOT THE NLD; THE REAL WINNER IS THE PEOPLE. WHAT THIS ELECTION WIN MEANS FOR THE NLD AND THE PEOPLE? I WAS NERVOUS and sleepless throughout the night waiting for the day's break of Nov 8. It was probably the longest, self-imposed vigilante in my life and I didn't feel bad a bit. I knew I wasn't alone.  Burma's first most important general elections since 1990 were held on that day. It's important in many ways: free and semi-fair and inclusive. But the fact that the electoral processes were organized under a  controversial constitution -- and the  opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) ignored all improbabilities and took part in it without much scrutiny -- was the salient point, making it one of the most important elections in quarter of a century of this country's turbulent  re...