Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s popularity appears to be increasing in the wake of a general election widely rejected as a sham and her release from house arrest on Saturday after a total of 15 years and 20 days in detention out of the past 21 years and four months.
When she appeared above the wall of her guarded compound, at least 3,000 supporters had come out to her lakeside house in the hope of catching a glimpse of her. It was an iconic moment in Burma's history.
Members of her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and journalists who came to see her said more and more people were heading in the direction of her house as word spread that she was to be released. Observers said more Suu Kyi supporters turned out on Saturday than on the occasions of her two previous releases, in 1995 and 2002.
“I was there when she was released in May 2002,” Yar Zar, an NLD youth member said. “There weren't the number of people then that are here today. It's not only NLD members, but other people have come today as well.”
Suu Kyi, 65, was released at around 5 pm on Saturday while thousands of her supporters waited outside her house. Observers realized she was about to be released when three vehicles entered her compound and riot police began dismantling the barbed wire from around her compound. Then, executive members of the NLD went into the compound.
A few minutes later, the riot police withdrew and thousands of her supporters ran toward the gate to await their leader.
“I have been waiting for this day for seven years,” said one supporter. “I am so happy that she is now freed. She is like my mother. She is our mother.”
Suu Kyi’s latest term of detention term began back in May 2003 when her convoy was brutally ambushed by junta-backed thugs who were members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) which was transformed for the election into the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
Shortly after her release was confirmed, Suu Kyi greeted the crowd and gave her first public speech in years. “We must work together to achieve our goal,” she began. “We have not seen each other for so long. We have so much to talk about,” she added. “Come to the office [of the NLD] tomorrow at 12:00 pm,” she concluded after a few minutes.
This evening, she is expected to meet with party leaders and then to meet with foreign diplomats at the lakeside home, said NLD sources. One of the NLD's leaders, Ohn Kyaing, said earlier the party had been organizing for her release since Friday.
NLD sources also said Suu Kyi will visit party secretary U Lwin at his home on Saturday evening as his wife passed away on Friday.
Even after she went back into her house, the crowd waited, others turned up, and people cheered.
“She is the Burmese people’s leader. She is our leader. I am also glad to know she has been released this afternoon,” said Khin Maung Swe, a leader of the National Democratic Force, the splinter group of the NLD. He added that the junta released Suu Kyi only after they manipulated the election.
A day before Suu Kyi’s release, Burma's state-run media reported that the USDP had won the Nov. 7 election.
Representatives of several ethnic armed groups, such as the United Wa State Army and the Kachin Independence Organization, said they welcomed Suu Kyi’s release and hoped she would play a significant role for ethnic minorities' rights in the country.
Ironically, even military sources in Naypyidaw and Rangoon expressed delight that the Nobel laureate was finally free.
irrawaddy
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