We welcome the democratic change in Myanmar

AFTER passing a series of challenges on Myanmar’s road to democracy, the South East Asian country’s Parliament elected a confidant of Aung San Suu Kyi as President on Tuesday, ending decades of leadership by the military and its allies. The new President Htin Kyaw hailed his elevation to the top post as ‘Suu Kyi’s victory’, a clear nod to her plan that he will serve as a proxy for the Nobel Laureate who is constitutionally barred from becoming President.
Terming the stride a victory for the people of Myanmar, Htin Kyaw thanked the international community for the cause of democracy in Myanmar.
The President of National League for Democracy (NLD) Suu Kyi on Monday marked the step towards democracy a simple goal in exchange of tremendous struggle. Though the military has eased its control of the government, it still holds many levers of power. One quarter of the seats in both Houses of Parliament are reserved for the military, preventing any constitutional amendments without its approval. Htin Kyaw, who will take the office on April 1, and Suu Kyi will have the difficult task of dealing with Myanmar’s widespread poverty and managing an influx of investment after decades of stagnancy. As Myanmar steps into the long-hyped democracy, the major challenges are to establish democratic norms and principles in the state.
Even as we applaud the new freedoms enjoyed by the Myanmar people, the country must face challenges as they evolve from autocratic rule into a democratic state. The tragedy of the Rohingya people, tensions among other ethnic communities, war in the jungles and removing poverty are some big challenges that are waiting for new President to handle.
He bears the responsibility to establish harmony at the community level and at the national level, the big challenge for the President is to win the confidence of the military which has handed over the leadership but remained a strong opposition to the new democratic government. What seems to be a delicate business for the new President is that he has to fulfill the aspiration of Suu Kyi to be above the President in exercising power and yet it will not be offending the military.
We in Bangladesh welcome the democratic change in Myanmar and hope under the new leadership of the country Suu Kyi will move carefully to establish rule of democracy and peace in the country.