A rose that always blossoms

After the political reforms initiated by the Thein Sein government in 2011 the National League for Democracy (NLD) lead by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi returned to formal politics by deciding to join the by-election. Afterwards, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi chose a small and poor rural town in Yangon’s Southern District called Kaw Mhuu as her constituency for the by-election.

Even though Kaw Mhuu is located in the vicinity of the sea, it does have not any direct access to water routes and is also located at the periphery of the road networks. Perhaps for this reason even though the town is only a few kilometres away from the cosmopolitan Yangon city, it has not seen much development and has remained a small rustic town. After Daw Aung San Suu Kyi participated in the by-election from Kaw Mhuu, the small town which  before has not been much known about even in the Yangon Region, has received the attention of the entire country as well as from the international community.

The 2012 by-election was held on 1st April. I was appointed to move to Kaw Mhuu at the end of April just after the end of the elections. Because I arrived there after the election I did not have the opportunity to vote there. I did notice the locals being very proud of the fact that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has participated in the by-election through their town.

In the by-election the NLD won most of the seats. In 2013 as a sign to mark and encourage the return of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi into formal politics of Myanmar, the Japanese government helped build the 26-mile-long Ma Kyi Kan- Nghat Aw Sann- Kyite Htaw concrete road. Kaw Mhuu receives a lot of rainfall and during the monsoon season travelling along the Ma Kyi Kan, Nghat Aw Sann, Ma Sal Seik, Rakhine Su, Kyite Htaw road was very difficult. After the concrete road was built it became much easier to travel between Kyite Htaw and Yangon and this greatly improved the socio-economic situation of the region. This was when I started to understand that political reform was crucial for the development of the country.

In the 2015 election Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continued to contest in the election with Kaw Mhuu as her constituency. In the period leading to the election the NLD’s election campaigns were very lively and the campaign conducted by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s at Ah Phyauk village in Kaw Mhuu Township was attended by tens of thousands of the local population.

Before the 2015 election I was stationed in Yangon in October for security duties. Because of this I was only able to vote via early-voting process rather than at the voting station. Four or five days before the election, I had to cast my early vote. The senior officer who came to collect the early votes told us to vote for the party which is “in line” which the military.

I just took the ballot box from him and told the rest the they are allowed to vote freely. After that I marked a tick beside the name of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the ballot for the House of Representatives and put it in the ballot box. The senior officer who came to collect the votes took a look at me and said “I suppose you’re the troublemaker” and took the ballot box.

In the 2015 election I voted for the NLD for all three legislative bodies; the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the State legislature. I decided to vote this way as a sign of recognizing the sacrifices that the NLD party and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has made and also because I believed that this was needed to bring about changes to the country.

In NLD received a landslide victory in the general election and became the first ever civilian government in more than fifty years. There were many changes and improvements in all sectors including socioeconomic conditions during the administration of the NLD between 2016 and 2021.

As a soldier having voted for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during such a historic period during active duty is something to remember even to this today. I am also proud to have voted for someone who has sacrificed much for the country with such benevolence.

I wish Daw Aung San Suu Kyi the best of her health and to be free from all perils. I wish for all those who are wrongfully detained to be free. May our country be free from the evils of dictatorship and achieve everlasting peace very soon.