The National League for Democracy was founded on 27th September 1988 in the aftermath of the mass democracy uprisings, a series of nationwide protests in favour of democracy which took place in 1988 and ended when the military took control of the country in a coup. It was formed under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General Aung San, a pivotal figure in the Burmese independence movement of the 1940s.
In the 1990 parliamentary elections, the party took 59% of the vote and...
more »The National League for Democracy was founded on 27th September 1988 in the aftermath of the mass democracy uprisings, a series of nationwide protests in favour of democracy which took place in 1988 and ended when the military took control of the country in a coup. It was formed under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General Aung San, a pivotal figure in the Burmese independence movement of the 1940s.
In the 1990 parliamentary elections, the party took 59% of the vote and won 392 out of 492 contested seats, compared to 10 seats won by the governing National Unity Party. However, the ruling military junta did not let the party form a government. Soon after the election, the party was repressed and in 1989 Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest and in the years that followed hundreds of party members were arrested. This was her status for 16 of the following 21 years as on three separate occasions she was detained until she was most recently released on 13th November 2010.
Since her release the party has been re-formed and despite refusing to take part in the rigged General Election of 2010, as changes sweep through the country it took part in bi-elections in April 2012 resulting in a landslide as 43 out of 44 seats available were won by the NLD and saw Aung San Suu Kyi enter parliament for the first time.
Despite a recently changing political landscape the future remains uncertain as serious challenges lie ahead on the road to true democracy.
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