Hillary Clinton celebrates Myanmar vote and her role in it
By Stephen Collinson, CNN
Updated
1:39 PM EST, Thu November 12, 2015
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YANGON, MYANMAR - NOVEMBER 09: A man holds up a sign stating 'we must win' as crowds gather for the election result announcement in front of the National League for Democracy's headquarters after Myanmar's first free and fair election on November 9, 2015 in Yangon, Myanmar. The elections are Myanmar's first openly contested polls in 25 years, following decades of military rule. Noble laureate Aung San Suu Kyi appeared poised to win power in Myanmar on today despite her party's growing concerns about cheating in yesterday's historic election. (Photo by Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images)
Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi delivers a speech next to party patron Tin Oo in Yangon, Myanmar on November 9, 2015.
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Story highlights
Hillary Clinton stresses her own key role in nudging the former generals in charge of Myanmar
Experts say Clinton's role was important, but local and geopolitical factors had larger effect
(CNN) —
Hillary Clinton is claiming a share of the credit after elections in Myanmar delivered a landslide win for the democratic opposition.
The results from Sunday’s vote came after a political opening that Clinton helped nurture and that forms a central part of her legacy as secretary of state.
The Democratic front-runner released a statement that was careful to note remaining obstacles to full democracy in the Southeast Asian nation and to share credit with her old boss, President Barack Obama.
But she also stressed her own key role in nudging the former generals in charge of Myanmar, also known as Burma, toward reform, hinting at the importance of the election to her own political prospects, given that her time as the top U.S. diplomat lacks a long list of clear diplomatic triumphs.
Clinton is likely to use the election in Myanmar to fend off claims by Republicans – who universally targeted her at their latest campaign debate on Tuesday night – that her tenure as secretary of state was an unmitigated disaster, following reversals on the “reset” of relations with Russia that she managed and the Western intervention in Libya.
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
A woman casts her vote in a polling station in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on Sunday, November 8.
PHOTO:
Aung Shine Oo/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
A woman's finger is dipped in ink after casting her ballot in Dala, a village outside of Yangon, Myanmar, on November 8.
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Amanda Mustard/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
People rally outside the National League for Democracy office after Myanmar's first free and fair election in 25 years on November 8 in Yangon.
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Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
Votes are counted in a polling station in Yangon on November 8.
PHOTO:
Amanda Mustard/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
A vendor reads a local weekly journal showing a portrait of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein and others.
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Khin Maung Win/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
Pro-democracy supporters are optimistic that the election could be the beginning of real change in the country, which has been isolated for decades because of its repressive military-dominated government.
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Aung Shine Oo/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
Tin Aye, chairman of Myanmar's Union Election Commission, inspects a polling station in Naypyidaw on November 7.
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Aung Shine Oo/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
Thu Ryain Shwe, 26, of the National Unity Party, one of the youngest candidates in the parliamentary election, wears his candidate ID in Zigon.
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Amanda Mustard/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
A devotee prays at a chanting ceremony in Mandalay, Myanmar, on November 7 to bless citizens and to pray for a fair and peaceful election.
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Hkun Lat/AP
Photos: Landmark elections in Myanmar
A supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party holds a party flag in Mandalay on November 5.
“The Burmese election on Sunday was an important, though imperfect, step forward in the country’s long journey toward democracy,” Clinton said in a statement issued on Wednesday night. “It was also an affirmation of the indispensable role the United States can and should play in the world as a champion of peace and progress.”
A long road ahead
Though final results are not yet in, the election delivered a huge victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and a defeat for the military establishment that has ruled the country for decades.
Though Suu Kyi is prevented by the constitution from becoming president, she has indicated she will nominate a figurehead from her party for the post and she experts to effectively rule the country as the power behind the throne.
Clinton stressed that one election does not a democracy make and that the country has a long road ahead on national reconciliation and constitutional reform. But she said promoting political change in a nation like Myanmar was exactly the kind of goal that U.S. foreign policy should pursue – arguing for not just her record but her approach to geopolitics.
“When I was Secretary of State, President Obama and I worked with Aung San Suu Kyi and others on the ground in Burma to nurture flickers of progress into a real opening,” Clinton said, praising the Burmese people for their determination. “As President, I will ensure that the United States continues to stand with them and with everyone around the world who seeks liberty and dignity.”
The ‘tantalizing’ prospect of democracy
The Myanmar election also represents a gain for Obama’s policy of rebalancing U.S. foreign policy toward Asia and his signature strategy of being willing to talk to American foes – like Myanmar’s military leaders – as he prepares for a trip to Asia next week.
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition politician and Nobel Peace Prize winner, arrives at the polling station to cast vote during Myanmar's freest election in decades on November 8, 2015. Known worldwide for her leadership and commitment to human rights in Myanmar, she was kept under house arrest for years by the Asian country's military rulers. Take a look back at her triumphs and struggles:
Suu Kyi, center, receives the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal on September 19, 2015. She is flanked by (from left) House Speaker John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, stand with her.
PHOTO:
AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
A large cutout of the Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Suu Kyi is on display on Wednesday.
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The Washington Times/Landov
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, September 18, in Clinton's office at the State Department in Washington. It was her first visit to the U.S. in 20 years.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi greets her supporters as she visits a recently flooded area in Pathein township, the capital city of the Irrawaddy division, on September 1, 2015. Heavy monsoon rains in Myanmar forced tens of thousands of people to seek shelter in emergency camps.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi speaks during a regular session at the lower house of parliament in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, on July 25, 2015. Suu Kyi called for laws to protect the rights of the nation's myriad ethnic minorities in her inaugural address to the fledgling parliament.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi sits in the lower house parliament session in Naypyidaw on July 10, 2015.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi prays in honor of her late father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, during a ceremony to mark the country's 65th anniversary of Martyrs' Day at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Yangon, Myanmar, on July 19, 2015. The memorial is a tribute to Aung San and several other independence leaders who were killed on July 19, 1947.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi stands to address both houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, London, on June 21, 2015 as Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, right, and Speaker of the House of Lords Baroness D'Souza stand beside her. Suu Kyi made a historic address to both houses of the British Parliament, making her only the fifth foreign dignitary since World War II to be accorded the rare honor.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi speaks during a Nobel lecture at Oslo City Hall on June 16, 2015 in Oslo, Norway. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Price in 1991 but had not been able to receive it until now because she was kept under house arrest for most of the past 24 years.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi visits the Mae La refugee camp on June 2, 2015 in the western province of Tak, Thailand. The camp, situated along the Myanmar-Thailand border, is home to around 45,000 Karen people, an ethnic minority in Myanmar.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi leaves the Suvarnabhumi International airport on her first international trip in 24 years outside Myanmar on May 29, 2015in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi waves to Burmese workers on a trip to a migrant community outside of Bangkok on May 30, 2015 in Samut Sakhon, Thailand. Suu Kyi pledged to help improve the rights of Burmese nationals living in Thailand.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi speaks at the National League for Democracy party headquarters after after a landslide victory for a seat in the parliament on April 2, 2015 in Yangon. The NLD claimed 43 out of 44 parliamentary seats as the country continues its path of political and diplomatic reform.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi is surrounded by media as she visits polling stations in her constituency during the parliamentary elections on April 1, 2015 in Kaw Hmu, Myanmar.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi and Secreatary of State Hillary Clinton stand together during a news conference after their meeting at her residence in Yangon on December 2, 2011, where they laid out a framework for reforms.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi speaks in Yangon during a meeting to mark Human RIghts Day on December 10, 2010.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi addresses thousands of her supporters at her National League for Democracy headquarters on November 14, 2010.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi greets crowds of well-wishers at the gate of her house after her release from house arrest, on November 13, 2010, in Yangon.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
U.S. President George W. Bush signs H.R. 4286, which gave the Congressional Gold Medal in absentia to Suu Kyi, in the Oval Office of the White House on May 6, 2008. From left : California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley of New York, first lady Laura Bush and Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell.
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Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi listens to a question during a news conference after being freed from 19 months under house arrest May 6, 2002, making a triumphant return to her party's headquarters in Yangon. A year later, her motorcade was attacked by a pro-government mob, and she was placed under house arrest again.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi's son, Alexander Aris, left, accepts America's highest civilian honor from U.S. President Bill Clinton on his mother's behalf on December 6, 2000, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi addresses hundreds of anxious Burmese supporters from the main gate of her family compound in Yangon on July 14, 1995.
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AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Photos: Suu Kyi through the years
Suu Kyi through the years —
Suu Kyi speaks in Yangon during an anti-military regime rally on August 26, 1988.
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AFP/Getty Images
Obama spoke to Myanmar President Thein Sein on Wednesday night to commend the government on its role in running the election. The White House said the leaders agreed that the formation of a new government would be an “important step forward in Burma’s democratic transition.”
Obama also spoke to Suu Kyi to congratulate her on the NLD’s success after years of persecution, which included her own long periods of house arrest.
“The President commended her for her tireless efforts and sacrifice over so many years to promote a more inclusive, peaceful, and democratic Burma,” a second White House statement said.
Clinton devoted an entire chapter in her memoir “Hard Choices” to Myanmar, presenting herself as the decisive driver of the U.S. effort to bring the country in from the cold and toward the “tantalizing” prospect of democracy.
“I had my eyes open about the risks, but when I weighed up all the factors, I didn’t see how we could pass up this opportunity,” Clinton wrote, saying she was keen to prod the generals running the country to move toward political reform but wary of embracing them too fast.
A grim, Orwellian place
And it is indisputable that Myanmar has come a long way since Washington spotted a chance to push the reform process in 2009.
For decades before the political thaw, it was a grim, Orwellian place, stifled by an insidious national security apparatus and isolated from the world by a paranoid military junta that used poverty and repression as instruments of power.
But the blossoming of economic and political freedoms changed life in a ramshackle nation where even Internet and mobile phones are a recent luxury. Hundreds of political dissidents were freed from hellish military prisons and Suu Kyi – after years under house arrest – is now a member of parliament.
The United States, meanwhile, has lifted many of its sanctions on the Myanmar government and sent an ambassador back to the country. In late 2011, Clinton was the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Burma since the military clamped down in 1962.
Critics, however, point to the military’s engineering of the electoral system to weight it in its favor and say that shows the reform process in Myanmar is not as clear a triumph as Clinton might like to portray it.
Though the army has withdrawn from front-line politics and Sein Thein has taken off his uniform, Myanmar’s constitution still guarantees the military the right to appoint lawmakers to 25% of seats in parliament, whatever the result of the election.
Some critics also believe that Obama’s visit to Myanmar in 2012 – on a trip that triggered extraordinary scenes of Burmese on the streets mobbing his motorcade – was too soon.
Meanwhile, continued violence against the persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority and multiple civil wars that have raged since the country’s independence from Britain in 1948 also undermine the idea that Burma is a success story.
Clinton seems to have anticipated many of the problems and noted in her book that when she left office, Myanmar’s fate still hung in the balance.
“Burma could keep moving forward, or it could slide backward,” Clinton wrote.
’More good than harm’
There’s also the complication of just how big a share Clinton should get of whatever credit there is to claim.
“The policy of engagement that the Obama administration adopted was helpful,” said Lex Rieffel, a Brookings Institution economist who has studied Myanmar and visited many times. “It did more good than harm as opposed to the sanctions policy. (But) let’s not attribute the changes in that country to U.S. policy.”
In her book, Clinton writes that she spotted an opportunity in early trips to Asia to work on Myanmar, especially after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told her during her first visit to Asia as secretary of state in February 2009 that the generals might be interested in a dialogue with the United States.
She also coordinated closely with Suu Kyi.
Marveling at iPhones
But while Clinton did play an important role in mentoring the process, the primary motive for Myanmar’s opening appears to have been rooted in local and geopolitical factors.
“Burma’s opening was mainly a process driven by Burmese leaders, rather than the U.S., as they sought to create strategic space against China and generate economic growth through greater exposure to the world,” said Daniel Twining, an Asia expert who worked in the State Department during the Bush administration.
There was clearly an impulse from within the Myanmar government to shake free of self-imposed isolation. The country’s poverty and lack of access to outside capital because of U.S. and European sanctions contrasted sharply with economic development in a region where states like Thailand and Indonesia were roaring ahead.
U.S. officials have privately shared stories about how the gulf between Myanmar and its fast-rising Southeast Asian neighbors was brought home at regional summits when ministers from Myanmar marveled at innovations like iPhones sported by their counterparts in other countries.
Such nuanced verdicts, like the one on Myanmar, often have a tendency to get exaggerated on the campaign trail, and any attempt by Clinton’s supporters to paint her Myanmar policy as a Nixon-to-China moment would be overblown.
But if the successful election translates into an enduring milestone on Myanmar’s rocky road to eventual democracy, she would be justified in claiming an important role in an unlikely political transformation.
