[EAI Myanmar Special Commentary] ⑤ The Unceasing Struggle of Myanmar's Civil Society Towards Democracy: Reflections from EAI's Myanmar Cooperation Projects

On February 1, 2021, another tragedy in history unfolded in Naypyidaw, the capital of Myanmar, captured comically by the camera of an aerobics instructor. The scene of a convoy of vehicles led by the military entering to seize control of the federal parliament was fully recorded. The aerobics instructor, wearing a mask due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was filming her lively movements, typical of the younger generation. While the camera's focus captured contemporary Myanmar in 2021, the convoy in the background evoked the dark clouds of 1962 and 1988.

Myanmar's history of democracy has been a history of frustration. Even after establishing an independent government following colonial rule, the government's incompetence and the fragmented political and social environment could not overcome instability and disorder, ultimately leading to military coups. The 8888 Uprising in 1988, where citizens' resistance against the incompetence and corruption of the military dictatorship coalesced, and the Saffron Revolution in 2007, which even involved Buddhist monks, Myanmar's state religion, were both frustrated by the military's violent suppression within less than two months. The Myanmar military became a coup-specializing group that easily usurped state power under the pretext of restoring national unity and order, leaving the blood and lives of civilian resistance as a trauma of frustration. Democracy and freedom were only possible in a limited sense when there was a "grace" from the military, within "discipline."

However, the Myanmar people's aspiration for democracy was not easily thwarted. Although many democracy activists were imprisoned or went into political exile, civil society was consolidating its internal capacity, waiting for an opportunity to end military dictatorship and achieve freedom. And that opportunity came in 2015. The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, overwhelmingly defeated the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) led by Thein Sein in the November general election, bringing an end to the long history of military dictatorship. A staggering over 75% of Myanmar's eligible voters participated in the election, and the will of a consolidated civil society led to political victory through democratic procedures.

The 2021 coup is not concluding as easily as in the past at the military's will. Although the scale of civilian resistance has decreased compared to the initial phase of the coup, it continues on the streets of major cities like Yangon and Mandalay. Civilian resistance is tactically adapting to respond swiftly to violent suppression, such as targeted shootings of protesters. The support of the Myanmar people for the National Unity Government (NUG), which aims to be the center for the restoration of democracy, is nationwide and extensive. Bonds issued to raise funds for the NUG's activities were sold out in just 10 hours. This reflects the Myanmar people's aspiration for democratic restoration, rather than expectations of profitability.

Currently, Myanmar is witnessing a tense standoff between the military, desperate to maintain power by instilling fear through indiscriminate violence, and the civil disobedience movement and democratic forces, who are relentlessly sending messages of resistance and striving to create an opportunity for democratic restoration.

1. The 2015 General Election and the Challenges for Myanmar's Civil Society

In 2015, Myanmar's civil society was quietly preparing for a historic opportunity. Following Thein Sein's liberalization policies, democracy activists who had been imprisoned were released, and dissidents who had been in exile supporting the domestic resistance movement returned home. With the military's control loosened due to proactive liberalization measures, former democracy activists were exploring new challenges within civil society to promote political development in Myanmar.

The homeland they returned to was different from the past. With foreign capital actively being invested, hailed as the last 'land of potential' in the Indochinese Peninsula, the economy, which had previously relied solely on China, gained new momentum. Amidst the rapid development of information and communication technology, changing day by day, Myanmar citizens were also adapting quickly, actively forming social networks in cyberspace. The methods of taking to the streets, holding picket signs, and shouting through loudspeakers no longer held appeal in the transformed Myanmar civil society. Democracy activists knew that they had to build the capacity for Myanmar's civil society to seize and develop the opportunity for democracy, because they understood that democracy's achievement and development could not be guaranteed by relying solely on a few political leaders.

The democracy activists focused on the general election scheduled for November 2015. If held as scheduled, as the government had promised, it was a golden opportunity to end military dictatorship and establish a democratic civilian government. This required the active participation of citizens with voting rights. However, the general election, which involved forming not only the federal parliament but also multi-layered regional parliaments, was a complex and difficult "task" for ordinary citizens who had not been given regular opportunities to vote. Education was needed to explain how to vote through demonstrations. Democracy activists organized systematic voter education for all citizens of Myanmar ahead of the general election. They organized civil society organizations and traveled across the country to educate citizens. Civil society organizations conducted organized voter education, touring not only major cities but also remote areas nationwide. The citizens' aspiration for democracy, coupled with Myanmar's low literacy rate, enhanced the effectiveness of the education. The high voter turnout in the general election was the fruit of the efforts of Myanmar's civil society activists who had worked tirelessly across the country throughout 2015.

Democracy activists and the civil society organizations they founded also began to consider the tasks after the general election. They could no longer remain as mere advocacy groups based on political views or past activist groups. They had to contemplate their responsibilities and roles in contributing to the historic opportunity of realizing democracy. It was against this backdrop that the East Asia Institute (EAI), in collaboration with civil society organizations in Myanmar, launched the project 'Strengthening Civil Society Organizations in Myanmar.' The objective of this project was to help Myanmar civil society organizations transform into think tanks capable of proactively developing democratic agendas and policy tasks and contributing to the development of democracy in Myanmar.

This project was pursued along two main axes. The first was experience sharing. Myanmar citizens were highly curious about Korea's experiences with democracy, political development, and economic success. The experience of EAI, a small, private, independent think tank that has gained influence not only in Korea but globally, could serve as a practical reference for Myanmar civil society organizations in designing their future organizational development. Experience sharing does not merely mean one-way transmission of knowledge and experience. EAI also had to understand and explore Southeast Asian countries, which Korea relatively knows little about. The vivid history and information regarding the political, economic, and social issues that modern Myanmar had experienced since its independence were not well-known to the outside world. EAI sought to expand the scope of its research on Asian democracy based on a deep understanding of Myanmar's politics and society. Furthermore, recognizing the issue that Korea's support for developing countries was limited to economic aspects, it was hoped that by transferring Korea's political and economic development experience and knowledge, the recipient countries' internal capacity could drive robust outcomes from economic aid. EAI sought to find a case in Myanmar where Korea's contribution diplomacy, the only case of a country transitioning from recipient to donor, could demonstrate practical effectiveness.

The second axis was networking. EAI aimed to expand the success stories of democratic cooperation at regional and global levels by establishing networks of key experts and serving as a hub to connect them. At the regional level, the Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) had already been established to respond to the current democratic crisis and jointly identify agendas and conduct research with democracy think tanks. Based on the experience of ADRN, EAI took on the role of a bridge, first forming a democracy research network within Myanmar and then connecting it to the Asian regional network, thereby establishing a framework for enhancing the capacity of Myanmar's nascent democracy and the civil society supporting it. Just as humans grow through interaction within society, Myanmar's civil society organizations established channels for mutual exchange and created opportunities for change and development through communication with think tanks in other parts of Asia, including EAI.

In August 2015, we began our first workshop for experience sharing and policy research. In the interim, Myanmar had established a democratic civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD through the historic victory in the general election, and the following year, Korea experienced the Candlelight Revolution, which ousted an "irresponsible" government through the power of its citizens. EAI and its partner institutions in Myanmar vividly shared the historical experiences of democracy in both countries.

2. Public Aspiration and the Limitations of the NLD Government

Since the mid-2010s, Myanmar's civil society has experienced unprecedented growth. The efforts of democracy advocates to cultivate civil society capacity have been significant in this regard. Following the 8888 Uprising, the military designated Yangon University as a core center of student activism and subsequently closed it down. Furthermore, higher education in humanities and social sciences, excluding fields like medicine and technology, was prohibited or severely restricted. The military regime sought autonomy by depriving citizens of their right to education. Within the cracks of partially granted freedom, Myanmar's civil society made strenuous efforts to reclaim the educational rights that had been denied.

The main areas of activity of the partner institutions that collaborated with EAI clearly illustrate this. The Sandhi Governance Institute operated programs for strengthening the capacity of Myanmar women and leadership training for the younger generation. The Yangon School of Political Science revived political science education, which had been banned by the military in public universities, at the private level. The Open Myanmar Initiative digitized the status of the government and parliament and built a database of politicians, providing it to domestic and international researchers and the general public. Yone Kyi Yar Knowledge Propagation Society, founded by a group of young doctors in Mandalay, established libraries to disseminate knowledge within the local community and create a forum for constructive discussion among the younger generation. The Naushawng Development Institute in Myitkyina, Kachin State, operated schools in cooperation with overseas NGOs to provide educational opportunities to young people from ethnic minorities who were marginalized from public education services.

The voter education conducted by civil society organizations nationwide in 2015 bore fruit, giving momentum to their civil society capacity-building activities. The Myanmar Democracy Research Network (MDRN) connected with think tank networks in the Asian region, learned from successful international cases, and developed them into domestic agendas. Democracy experts and scholars from Asia and around the world visited Yangon to share knowledge and experiences, and they readily communicated through social media. Ahead of the 2020 elections, they conducted voter education more systematically than five years prior. Despite significant constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they produced research outcomes, including conducting opinion polls of Myanmar citizens under limited conditions.

However, the NLD government, which emerged with the backing of national aspiration, did not adequately address the challenges of democracy. While navigating the conflict between the entrenched military and the people's demand for democracy, it exhibited an attitude that disregarded democratic values. Whether out of fear of potentially losing power to the military again, or due to the nature of political elites, it even appeared to form a strategic alliance with the military. Communication channels between civil society and members of parliament, which were guaranteed even under the Thein Sein regime, did not function properly, and efforts were made to regulate and control the free activities of civil society organizations and foreign NGOs through legislation. They remained silent or even defended the military's violence against the Rohingya. They did not guarantee freedom of expression by prohibiting political expression on campus and arresting student leaders, and measures were even taken to further restrict the right to vote and be elected for ethnic minorities compared to 2015. Under the pretext of the pandemic, they controlled the 2020 election campaign and prohibited the free reporting activities of journalists. Only government broadcasting stations were legally permitted. The criticism of the NLD government as a 'democratic dictatorship' is not an exaggeration.

The NLD government, which possessed no political assets other than popular support, was overthrown too quietly by the military coup, despite winning an overwhelming victory and receiving the generous renewed trust of the people in the 2020 general election. Once again, the challenges of history were left in the hands of the citizens.

To date, many citizens have lost their lives resisting the military coup. As of December 25, 2021, the officially recorded death toll reached 1,375. A total of 8,254 people have been imprisoned, and 39 of them have been sentenced to death. Among those sentenced to death are two minors under the age of 18. Of course, these figures are officially confirmed, and it is widely believed that the actual number of innocent citizens sacrificed is much higher.

Myanmar citizens' resistance movement is taking various forms. Initially, large-scale mass rallies were central, and there were also gatherings where messages of resistance were broadcast by banging pots and pans every night for a certain period. They also conveyed their will to resist by turning off lights for a certain period at night, allowing satellites to show a dark Myanmar to the world. As the military's brutal suppression continued, including targeted shootings of protesters, protests became guerrilla-like, scattering instantly as if a flash mob, or teddy bears were displayed on the streets instead of people. They also formed large letters saying "We Want Democracy" visible from the sky and strengthened their resolve by sharing the sign of spreading three fingers on Facebook in a relay.

Along with various resistance movements, the civil disobedience movement against the military regime is also spreading further. Initially, a large-scale boycott of industrial products owned by the military was widely carried out. Currently, citizens are refusing to pay taxes to pressure the military regime's funding sources. Although power outages are occurring in various places and the inconvenience of being unable to use electricity is caused by not paying electricity bills supplied by the government, Myanmar citizens are willingly enduring the inconvenience. They no longer expect anything from a government that has thoroughly ignored public safety and health amidst the spread of COVID-19. Public services have collapsed, and citizens are living lives to protect themselves. The gap between the government and civil society has now become irreparable.

Myanmar citizens have continuously appealed to the international community for support in restoring democracy in Myanmar. The courageous declaration of the Myanmar Ambassador to the UN and the tearful plea of Miss Myanmar at a beauty pageant are still vividly remembered by many global citizens. Nevertheless, the international community, including the UN, has only repeated declarations without taking any substantive measures to alleviate the suffering of the Myanmar people. China is effectively supporting the Min Aung Hlaing regime, and ASEAN has faced criticism for recognizing the legitimacy of the Myanmar military regime. Recently, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen visited Naypyidaw and met with Min Aung Hlaing. Democratic countries have taken no substantive action in response. Now, Myanmar citizens no longer appeal tearfully to the UN and the international community as they did months ago. Having experienced the inaction of the international community, they have learned the hard lesson that resolving this situation is solely their struggle. Myanmar citizens are engaged in a fight that no one else can undertake for them.

3. Epilogue

It has been a year since the military seized control of Naypyidaw. The situation in Myanmar still shows no signs of resolution. The military is committing ruthless violence and atrocities against innocent civilians and vulnerable ethnic minorities in border regions. The NUG has not yet garnered sufficient strength and resources to manage all these crises. On city streets, surprise protests by citizens continue relentlessly, and some young people have chosen to take up arms. A doctor from Mandalay, who was a member of MDRN, is leading peaceful protests by citizens. A student from an ethnic minority group who dreamed of a federal union of Myanmar has reported joining the revolutionary army. Meanwhile, a young couple has announced their marriage and the birth of their second child. The resistance they called the 'Spring Revolution' has not subsided in the slightest. And amidst the arduous revolution, the citizens of Myanmar are living their daily lives. We hope for the day when history will soon be on their side. ■

■ Author: Shin Young-hwan_Visiting Researcher at the Institute for Peace and Democracy, Korea University, and Head of the Management Planning Office at the Daegu Women and Family Foundation. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Korea University and previously served as a Senior Researcher at the East Asia Institute. His main research interests include East Asian international relations, China-Russia relations, geopolitics, Korean diplomacy, and development cooperation. His major works include "Myanmar's Broken Democracy 'Disciplined' by the Military: Analysis on the Quality of Procedure in Fledging Democracy" (2022), "China's Cooperative Continental Strategy and Expansionary Maritime Strategy: Focusing on Nicholas Spykman's Geopolitical Theory" (2021), and "Is Japan the 'Britain' of East Asia? A Geopolitical Analysis of Japan's Long-term Strategy on the Korean Peninsula" (2020).

■ Managed and Edited by: Jun Ju-hyun _EAI Researcher

Contact: 02 2277 1683 (ext. 204) | jhjun@eai.or.kr