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Ahead of next year’s elections, Myanmar military ruler Than Shwe has commuted pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s three-year prison sentence to 18 months’ home detention.
Ms Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has already started running attack ads saying the government has gone soft on crime.
According to one ad, “Than Shwe talks tough on crime, but when repeat offenders like Aung San Suu Kyi are back on the streets in just 18 months, the time for talk is over.”
The ad features black and white footage of the junta leader smiling, a juxtaposition that neatly highlights his unwillingness to take the issues seriously.
But the NLD has electoral problems of its own, with the government highlighting the party’s lack of action since it was elected in 1990.
One government ad cleverly brands the time since then as “19 years’ hard Labor”, which, of course, it was.
Myanmar’s ASEAN partners had been concerned that Ms Suu Kyi’s latest trial could cause them severe embarrassment, but were relieved to discover that they didn’t feel even a little bit embarrassed after all.
