Is Aung San Suu Kyi still relevant?

A protest in support of Aung San Suu Kyi in London. Photo credit: Burma Democratic Concern

Freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi; but is she still relevant?
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s imprisoned political icon, is set to be released on Saturday, provided that Burmese officials find no other reason to keep the 65-yearold Nobel laureate under house arrest. But how relevant is “The Lady” of Burma’s democratic movement any more? Al Jazeera reporter Marwaan Macan-Markar asked that very question in an in-depth report for the news agency this week. “As Myanmar reaches a political crossroads in November, Suu Kyi’s credentials will come under scrutiny. How much power and reach would she still have to rally her followers barely a week after the south-east Asian nation’s first general election in two decades?” Macan-Markar asked, especially given that the political landscape of Burma, or Myanmar, will have changed since the last time she was freed from house arrest in May 2002. The answer? As a politic force, unknown. But as a symbol? Limitless. Opined Pascal Khoo Thwe in The Times, “If she is released, she will cause a great stir among her supporters, giving great encouragement to the movement for freedom. The last thing that the generals in the capital, Naypyidaw, want is a new era of confidence among ordinary people.”
http://www.periscopepost.com/2010/11/is-aung-san-suu-kyi-still-relevant/