Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi drew large crowds on a landmark trip to rural Myanmar that tested her freedom, but experts say the regime will tolerate her activities only up to a point.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner was trailed by plainclothes police, but allowed to travel unhindered as she avoided making public speeches on the low-key four-day excursion to the ancient city of Bagan and nearby villages.
Observers warned that a full political tour, if it goes ahead, could still trigger a confrontation with the new army-backed government, which has issued stern warnings for Aung San Suu Kyi to stay out of politics.
“The regime playing nice to her this time should not fool anyone into thinking that as soon as she travels the country to in effect reconnect with her base politically, the regime is to sit back and watch, undisturbed,” said Maung Zarni, a researcher and activist at the London School of Economics.
Aung San Suu Kyi refrained from any overtly political activities that might have antagonized the regime during her first trip outside the main city of Yangon since she was freed by the junta from house arrest last November.
The democracy hero, who spent most of the past two decades as a prisoner in her own home, made no comments yesterday to a throng of reporters following her every move before she boarded a flight back to Yangon.
“We had a break, but did not rest,” said her youngest son, Kim Aris, a British national who accompanied his mother on the trip. “There were too many people everywhere, but you can’t get away from that.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, 66, signed autographs and posed for pictures as she visited temples, markets and souvenir shops in and around Bagan, one of the top tourist destinations in Myanmar.
As word spread that the softly-spoken but indomitable opposition leader was nearby, hundreds of supporters gathered to catch a glimpse, some weeping with joy and others shouting: “Mother Suu, may you be in good health!”
The crowds that she attracted, while much smaller than those seen when she last traveled in 2002 and 2003, were a reminder of her enduring popularity among many Burmese, despite a long absence from public view.
“I dropped what I was doing at home when I heard she was coming. I had to meet her in person,” 54-year-old housewife Nwe Nwe said while waiting to greet Aung San Suu Kyi in front of a lacquerware workshop in Bagan.
The question now is whether the success of the trip emboldens the dissident to launch a tour with a more overtly political tone, in defiance of a warning from the regime that “chaos and riots” could ensue if she went ahead.
The regime is sending Aung San Suu Kyi a clear message that overt political activities such as public speeches are “off limits,” said Trevor Wilson, a former Australian ambassador to Myanmar.
However, her National League for Democracy party “might think it’s worth their risk being a bit provocative ... They do need to demonstrate that they’re relevant,” said Wilson, a visiting fellow at Australian National University.
“It’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game but it’s very hard to be confident that it’s going to end peacefully. It’s more likely to lead to some kind of disorder. There could be minor violence,” he said.
Security is a major concern because Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy was attacked in 2003 during a political trip, in an ambush apparently organized by a regime frightened by her popularity.
Aung San Suu Kyi — the daughter of Myanmar’s liberation hero General Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947 — was arrested along with many party activists on that occasion and later placed under house arrest for a third time.
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