Introduction
CONTEXT
In the early morning of 1st February 2021, the military trucks and tanks surrounded the Presidential House located in Myanmar’s administrative capital, Naypyidaw.
They detained President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other key cabinet members, members of the Union Election Commission, central bank authorities, well-known activists, and social influencers. As such, ten years of Myanmar’s fragile democratisation came to an end.
The military headed by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing staged the coup d’état rejecting the results of the 2020 General Election on the ground that there had been voter frauds. However, the 2020 General Election results were recognised as free and fair and “representative of the will of the people of Myanmar” by neutral international observers (Antiquerra, Buenaobra, Lun, & Vier, 2021). Soon after the coup, people from all walks of life joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Significantly, the civil servants from different ministries join the movement refusing to work for the illegitimate regime. Doctors, nurses, teachers, students, factory workers, housewives, and many more activists march together on the streets shouting, “We Want Democracy”, “Give the power back to the people,” and other slogans that showed strong discontents towards the military junta. The military, however, does not answer the call of the people and repeatedly uses violent means to attack innocent civilians who are peacefully expressing their democratic voices.
CSOs are being scrutinised on many fronts. The bank accounts of Open Society Foundation Myanmar have been seized, and the junta detained its staff.
As of 2nd July 2021, there have been 888 people killed by the military junta, including children and women. At least 5,173 people were arbitrarily arrested, charged, or sentenced without any legal basis (Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 2021). Due to the military coup, fundamental human rights such as freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of speech have been halted. Media freedom was reversed as the military junta targeted media outlets and journalists (Gomez & Aung, 2021). CSOs are being scrutinised on many fronts. The bank accounts of Open Society Foundation Myanmar have been seized, and the junta detained its staff (The Irrawaddy, 2021). Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was ordered by the local authority to suspend all activities in Dawei, the Southern region of Myanmar (Médecins Sans Frontières, 2021).
Since the military junta restricts the freedom of association, many CSOs and their ongoing activities have come under constant military threats. Especially, the operations and activities of the rights-based and advocacy-oriented CSOs have been suspended for the unforeseeable future. Further, the coordination and networking activities of CSOs are being watched by local authorities, thereby making the project planning unpredictable.
The relations between international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and local CSOs have been affected in funding areas due to the banking crisis caused by the military coup. In other words, the civil society in Myanmar has been shrinking day by day, not only at the strategic level but also at the operational and implementation level. Against this background, this study aims to examine the impacts of the military coup on the CSOs, to assess the status of CSOs, especially the local CSOs that have been working on civic education and democracy promotion, and to understand the coping mechanisms of CSOs both in the medium and long term.
This study asks: what are the impacts of the military coup on the CSOs working on civic engagements and democracy promotion in Myanmar? What are the coping mechanisms—both medium and long term—of the CSOs to continue their works?
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
The military coup in Myanmar halted the fragile democratisation process of the country and severely harmed the growing civil society in Myanmar.
Although the 2008 Constitution guarantees the freedom of association if it does not conflict with existing laws (Myanmar, 2008, p. 150), those fundamental rights can be suspended by the sole decision of Commander-in-Chief since the legislative, executive, and judicial powers are transferred to the Commander-in-Chief at the time of national emergency (Myanmar, 2008, p. 168).
In this current context, the active citizens and CSOs’ role become more important than ever before to defend the democratic norms and practices in Myanmar. While the power in three government branches fell in the hand of Commander-in-Chief of the Army (Tatmadaw), the civil society remains a space in which democratic resilience can be built both in the medium and long term, thereby supporting the efforts to restore democracy in Myanmar. Otherwise, the democratisation in Myanmar can become unfixable.
For such reasons, it is vital to assess how active citizens and CSOs are coping with the current situation in Myanmar. Exchanging views and sharing experiences of the actors from the civic spaces vis-à-vis the current situation will help formulate a medium-term or a long-term strategy to restore democracy in Myanmar.
APPROACH AND METHODS
From mapping actors to the analysis of the findings, this study has taken the approaches and methods as mentioned below carefully.
Actor Mapping: To pinpoint the most relevant respondents, the researchers conducted the actor mapping exercise. By doing the actor mapping exercise, the potential research participants from the CSOs who work in civic participation at the local level were identified.
Recruitment of research participants: The purposive sampling method was employed to recruit the research participants. The target population for this research contains the members of the CSOs, especially promoting democracy and democratic governance through advocacy means. In order to make the data as representative as possible, the researchers developed such criteria as age, gender, location of the organisation, and length of years committed to civic participation issues. Against these criteria, the research participants were recruited via email, phone, or messages.
Key Informant Interviews were conducted via the online platform, especially Zoom meetings and phone calls. Briefly introducing the study, describing its purpose and context, was sent to each participant before the interview. Given the political sensitivity of the discussions, the participants were informed that they could stop the interview at any time if and when they feel uncomfortable sharing the information. The semi-structured questionnaires and interview guide were prepared to elicit the enriching data from the participants. In recording the Zoom meetings, the participants were requested to provide verbal consent before the recording starts. Through these KIIs, Pandita collected insights from the key stakeholders regarding how they will cope with the changing political circumstances and the potential challenges they may face in the medium term, especially in civic education and democracy promotion activities.
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also conducted to understand how the CSOs are coping with the challenges of the changing political circumstances in Myanmar in the medium time. These discussions have become the platforms in which key actors from CSOs can share their experiences, insights, and strategies for medium and long term in responding to the changing political situations in Myanmar. During the KIIs and FGDs, Pandita team took notes on the discussion points and facilitated the conversation flows.
Thematic data analysis: Braun and Clarke suggested that thematic analysis can be used to identify, organise, and offer insight systematically into themes across a dataset (Braun & Clarke, 2012). Further, a thematic analysis tool is used to understand the collective or shared meanings and experiences. Based on this notion, the thematic data analysis method was employed to reveal CSOs stakeholders’ shared experiences and reflections. At the same time, the critical data which are different from commonalities were also categorised as unique experiences of the participants.
For the effective use of thematic analysis, the data are categorised according to themes consistent with the purpose of the study, that is, identifying ways to empower civic engagements to build democratic resilience under the military regime. Drawing from the respondents’ answers during the KIIs and FGDs, the data are categorised into 1) immediate impacts, 2) challenges, 3) medium- and long-term strategies, 4) emerging trends, and 5) recommendations. Moreover, the changing context of Myanmar’s political landscape was taken into account during the analysis since the respondents reflected on the political circumstances in Myanmar to a large extent. At the same time, they shared about the mid-term and long-term strategies both at the individual and institutional levels.
The changing context of Myanmar’s political landscape was taken into account during the analysis since the respondents reflected on the political circumstances in Myanmar to a large extent.
Ethical Consideration: Preserving the integrity of the study and protecting the respondents' privacy, the research team treated the interviews with great caution. The data obtained from the respondents are treated with strict confidentiality and would not be used for other purposes. All recorded and stored data would be deleted at the paper's release.
In some cases where the respondents were not comfortable recording the interview, the interview would not be recorded, but only careful and case-sensitive written notes are taken. The interview participants were informed in advance that they could stop the interview at any point if they feel uncomfortable and that the data will be treated with strict confidentiality and used only for this paper. Verbal consent was requested before recording the interviews.
CONCEPTUAL APPROACH OF THE STUDY: Democratic Resilience and Civil Society Empowerment
The fragile democratisation process of Myanmar was severely harmed, and Myanmar is facing the potential failed-state scenario after the coup of 1st February 2021.
Observers of Myanmar warned that Myanmar stands on the brink of state failure and collapse (Faulder, Robinson, & Macan-Markar, 2021). The military coup unleashed violence across Myanmar while the soldiers strong-armed the civilian population. UNHCR expressed its deep concern about escalating violence, deteriorating security conditions, and human suffering caused by the displacement (UNHCR, 2021). United Nations office in Myanmar stated that over 100,000 people had been displaced due to the security forces’ attacks (The Irrawaddy, 2021).
On the economic front, Myanmar was severely hit by the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the growth rate sharply fell to 1.7 per cent in the fiscal year 2019/2020, halting the efforts on poverty reduction (World Bank, 2020). The military coup further fuelled this economic downturn. According to the latest UNDP report, COVID-19, and the military coup push half of Myanmar’s population under the poverty line (Reed, 2021). By early 2022, about 25 million people will be living under poverty line, warned by UNDP report (UNDP, 2021). In a nutshell, the whole political economy of Myanmar and Myanmar as a polity is destabilising from its very foundation.
These alarming circumstances fundamentally threaten the emerging democratic institutions, albeit with undemocratic arrangements under the 2008 Constitution, within the past decade. CSOs are not exempted from these effects either.
The CSOs in Myanmar are experiencing the destabilising effects of Myanmar’s shaky political economy. While the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar became an alarming issue for the international community and regional bodies such as ASEAN, it must not overshadow the importance of building democratic resilience in Myanmar because it serves as a shield to defend the totalising of military rule in Myanmar.
Will Myanmar cope with, survive, and recover from the current political and socio-economic turmoil? It depends on how much resilience Myanmar as a society can excel in facing these circumstances. Sisk made two propositions: “value resilience” and “demand resilience” while explaining the conceptual approach of democratic resilience (International IDEA, 2017). Both of which plays a vital role in reclaiming democracy in Myanmar.
Observers further suggested that a strong civil society is critical to democratic resilience since it protects “democracy through investigation, information transparency, and advocacy that contributes resilience” (International IDEA, 2017, p. 7). From this perspective, it is crucial to empower the CSOs by creating an enabling environment to defend democracy in Myanmar. However, the question remains: how can civil society be empowered, and what are the context-specific strategies to empower civil society in Myanmar?
The “politics of the daily”, must be empowered and encouraged so that the civil society and grassroots in Myanmar can survive and even contribute to the restoration of democracy in Myanmar.
There were groups back in the early 2000s (a.k.a. “Third Force”) who self-proclaimed to serve as “neutral” mediators between the military regime then and the political opposition (NLD). Their approach was proven unsuccessful since the 2008 Constitution, drafted, and ratified by the military, had shown not much tolerance in political and economic freedoms.
The new landscape of social movement is emerging during the Spring Revolution. This landscape does not stick with one dominant leader, whether a strong military man or democratic leader, but it comes from the community-led initiatives. These community-led initiatives were derived from the elected members of parliaments, student leaders, factory workers, civil servants, social service providers and any ordinary citizen who do not want to live under the oppressive military regime (Myat, 2021).
In Elliott Prasse-Freeman’s words, the “politics of the daily”, as suggested in “Power, Civil Society, and an Inchoate Politics of the Daily in Burma/Myanmar”, must be empowered and encouraged so that the civil society and grassroots in Myanmar can survive and even contribute to the restoration of democracy in Myanmar (Prasse-Freeman, 2012). This notion is relevant to the study’s findings, which will be presented in the next section.
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