8888 Uprising

8888 Uprising

Subject: International Relations

Context:  Myanmar protesters on Sunday marked the anniversary of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising that brought Aung San Suu Kyi to prominence, with flash mobs and marches of defiance against the ruling junta

Concept:

• The 8888 Uprising also known as the People Power Uprising and the 1988 Uprising, was a series of nationwide protests, marches, and riotsin Burma (Myanmar) that peaked in August 1988. Key events occurred on 8 August 1988 and therefore it is commonly known as the “8888 Uprising”
• The protests began as a student movement and were organised largely by university students at the Rangoon Arts and Sciences University and the Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT).
• During the crisis, Aung San Suu Kyi emerged as a national icon. When the military junta arranged an election in 1990, her party, the National League for Democracy
• However, the military junta refused to recognise the results and continued to rule the country as the State Law and Order Restoration Council. Aung San Suu Kyi was also placed under house arrest.
• The State Law and Order Restoration Council would be a cosmetic change from the Burma Socialist Programme Party.^[  Suu Kyi’s house arrest was lifted in 2010, when worldwide attention for her peaked

Coup d’état 2021

• A coup d’état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar’s military—which then vested power in a stratocracy.
• The Tatmadaw proclaimed a year-long state of emergency and declared power had been transferred to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing.
• It declared the results of the November 2020 general election invalid and stated its intent to hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency
• The coup d’état occurred the day before the Parliament of Myanmar was due to swear in the members elected at the 2020 election, thereby preventing this from occurring.
• President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained, along with ministers, their deputies and members of Parliament.