N. A. LISTOPADOV Doctor of Historical Sciences, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Myanmar Keywords:, Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD, parliamentary elections, democratic changes For months, the world has been watching what happens to a frail woman living modestly in an old house on the shores of Yangon's Inya Lake. We are, of course, talking about Do Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and a fighter for democracy in Myanmar for almost a quarter of a century. Attention to Suu Kyi increased further when she was elected to the Myanmar Parliament in a legislative by-election on April 1, 2012. Together with the leader of the democratic movement, representatives of the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by her won in 43 out of 45 districts. A LADY WITHOUT FEAR OR REPROACH It would seem that this is a fairly ordinary event of a local nature. If not for two important circumstances. First of all, the fact is, of course, that 67-year-old Do Aung San Suu Kyi took part in the elections. In 1991, she received the Nobel Peace Prize, which was followed by many other international awards. Her attention was not spared even by Hollywood - in 2011, the film about her "Lady" directed by Luc Bessonne was released on the screens of the world. And we should not forget that we are talking about Myanmar, which was ruled by the military for the last half - century - until March 2011. It all started in March of 1962, when the Revolutionary Council led by General Ne Win came to power as a result of a military coup. Since then, the military regime has undergone various modifications, but the essence has remained the same: all the more or less important issues in the country were solved by officers. In Myanmar's loosely structured society, the army is the most cohesive and organized force, capable of imposing its will on other public institutions. Until the late 80s of the last century, Suu Kyi led a quite prosperous life as a political scientist at her alma mater, the pr ... Read more