A Receding Wave of Optimism in Myanmar

On this “Special International Edition” of Indonesia In-depth - A wave of optimism flowed over Myanmar in 2010 when the military leadership began the slow process of opening up the country and implementing both economic and democratic reforms. At the same time, the government began new efforts to establish peace with more than a dozen armed ethnic minority groups, which has been one of the world’s longest civil wars. This was followed by historic general elections in 2015 and a new government. International leaders lifted sanctions on the country and competed with each other to meet the defacto leader and face of the democratic movement, Aung San Suu Kyi. Now, peace negotiations have stalled, new concerns that the economy may not live up to its full potential and reports of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya have gone unanswered. Suu Kyi has dramatically fallen from grace. What are the major obstacles for the peace negotiations? What might the upcoming election results in 2020 look like? What’s the latest situation with the Rohingya crisis? We discuss these issues and much more with the former Myanmar deputy minister of information and presidential spokesperson, Colonel (ret.) U Ye Htut.To learn more about U Ye Htut and his insights, check out his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ye-htut-76522a80/ or his Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ye.htut.988 / /Podcast hosts: Shawn Corrigan & Tanita / Read text version of this episode: www.indonesiaindepth.com  / /Say hi to us! Email   : [email protected] / /Twitter: @IndoIndepth / LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-corrigan/ /We are also available on Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud, Google Music and other podcast players!All music licensed.