Waking up to another day of dictatorship feels awful. Why? Because we had a taste of democracy in the past decade. What we had from 2011-2020 was merely a facade democracy with 25% of non-elected military MPs in parliaments. But we witnessed how the parliaments worked, how the power was separated into three branches, and how they checked and balanced one another. Remember there were times when some ministers had to show up at parliament sessions to explain/resolve the questions raised by the parliamentarians? That’s how check and balance worked, and remember we did not even have an authentic democracy back then.
It usually takes weeks/months to enact a law through parliament: a draft shall be prepared by a committee of MPs, it shall be discussed, and amended/added according to the discussions. Only after a series of procedures, it shall be approved by both houses of the parliament, then forwarded it to the president. In today’s paper, the Yangon and Mandalay city development laws were amended with just one directive of the dictator. No discussion, no opinion needed. Just one signature from him is needed because he holds all three branches of power: legislative, executive and judicial. Yesterday we saw a draft bill of cyber security law and got all freaked out. It has been requested several experts to give opinions until February 15 but does he even … care?
The Civil Disobedience Movement plays a vital role in stopping the government mechanism. Without a functioning government, what is he going to do? Arrest people himself? You know it’s not going to happen. All the laws he enacts and all the directives he gives will mean nothing. (But it’s not like we care any of those right now though.) That’s why we are pushing the CDM movement, encouraging all civil servants to join the resistance.
We saw that protesters came out with even more creative and fashionable outfits today. Remarkable one were traditional Myanmar outfits, Myanmar Nat (Spirit/Angel) costumes, Lady Justice costumes and Maleficent. Another day of no major violence feels strange. Once again, the evils don’t come out in broad daylight. So be extra cautious and careful at night.
It is going to be a long battle. We must be resistant and consistent. Let’s keep protesting peacefully in the daytime, banging pots and pans in the nighttime. We must win this.
