[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"core\/picturefill,entity_embed\/caption,views\/views.ajax,views\/views.module","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__282952__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"282952","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/282952","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__282952__en","pager_element":0}}},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"0ae5601d8790ff50fca3cf23b9ac9170285f2f75823ebdc8d9cc054bc03a679b"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":"\u003Clink rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_reI-6YIYy-k9pvxm-gaCRrn5cSrTZRtyAMrp4YXDUJw.css\u0022 \/\u003E\n"},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_VkK39bvB4H6LLVemwPFz8QWcUMTFqZ3FFo_LBVv_4vs.js"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__282952__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__282952__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003E(Mandalay) \u2013 Mandalay city, the capital of Burma\u2019s Region of the same name, is a renowned center for learning, Buddhist and secular, with countless monasteries and an important university. It is also famous as a center for political activism, again both Buddhist and secular. During the anti-military uprising of 1988, Buddhist monks, student activists, proponents of liberal democracy, and communist militants all took to the streets and effectively seized control of the city, only to be suppressed, as elsewhere in Burma, by the armed forces. These days, it is a stronghold both of the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and its vociferous critic, the Buddhist monk \u201cAssociation to Protect Race and Religion\u201d (\u201cma ba tha\u201d). It also has a vibrant secular civil society sector, including a variety of non-governmental organizations, and is a base from which several senior leaders of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are contesting seats in the region\u2019s election constituencies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed\u0022 data-type=\u0022image\u0022\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-right embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-media embedded-entity-bundle-image embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--right\u0022\u003E\n \n\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n \n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\u0022figure figure--expand text-center\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__media relative inline-block mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022\/modal\/26456\u0022 rel=\u0022modal:open\u0022 class=\u0022figure__link\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cimg srcset=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/480w\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/urlbridge.jpg?itok=Mh4nLKxv 480w, \/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/urlbridge.jpg?itok=uw2RDlFI 850w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(max-width: 524px) 100px, 500px\u0022 data-responsive-image-style=\u0022embedded_images\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2015\/urlbridge.jpg?itok=uw2RDlFI\u0022 width=\u0022850\u0022 height=\u0022567\u0022 alt=\u0022People cross the U Bein bridge in Mandalay, Burma on Oct. 6, 2015.\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 typeof=\u0022foaf:Image\u0022 \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__expand absolute block bottom-0 right-0 w-8 h-8 bg-white text-gray-700\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022sr-only\u0022\u003EClick to expand Image\u003C\/span\u003E\n \n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022icon fill-current w-full inline-block\u0022\u003E\n \u003Csvg viewbox=\u00220 0 20 20\u0022 fill=\u0022currentColor\u0022 role=\u0022img\u0022 focusable=\u0022false\u0022 aria-hidden=\u0022true\u0022\u003E\u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022\/themes\/custom\/hrw_design\/dist\/app-drupal\/assets\/spritemap.svg?cacheBuster=#sprite-expand\u0022\u003E\u003C\/use\u003E\u003C\/svg\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022figure__info text-left font-serif text-xs md:text-sm lg:text-base mx-auto text-gray-700 mt-1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__caption\u0022\u003EPeople cross the U Bein bridge in Mandalay, Burma on Oct. 6, 2015.\n\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__credit\u0022\u003E\u00a9 2015 Reuters\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EAll of this is immediately apparent to a foreign observer, not least from a browsing of book stores and stalls at which a wide political spectrum of books, magazines, and pamphlets are on sale. What is not so easily seen is what everybody seems to agree is the underlying power of the Burmese army, the tatmadaw, which maintains a large but extremely discreet presence. Commenting on this situation, one Mandalay intellectual quoted from Shakespeare\u2019s Macbeth, the recent movie version of which has reached Mandalay: \u201cNothing is but what is not.\u201d A Buddhist monk at a ma ba tha-dominated pagoda put it this way: \u201cthe tatmadaw is invisible everywhere.\u201d An NGO worker used this analogy, \u201cthe army is like an enormous iceberg, the tip of which right now only occasionally appears above the surface, but everybody knows it\u2019s there and how big it is.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThese comments come with an analysis of the upcoming election shared by several regional NLD leaders. These views refer constantly to the existing reality of constitutional provisions that reserve parliamentary seats for military-appointed representatives and lock in other guarantees of military power in and over the state regardless of the election results and to the feared possibility that if those results are too unacceptable to the tatmadaw, the ma ba tha, and the USDP, the army will come out of its seeming slumber and do something extremely violent, to overturn them, doing so either itself directly or via vigilante and other proxies under its control. As one of these voices put it, \u201ceven if the opposition wins the election, it will not win power, and if it wins too big, it may lose even bigger.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThese Mandalay voices express concern that some foreign observers may be fooled by appearances. They urge them not to be taken in by the military\u2019s withdrawal to the barracks, its reliance on \u201cretired\u201d officers to staff civilian administrative and electoral bodies, its failure to engage in widespread and systematic political violence during the campaign, and its willingness to allow just about anything to be published. They warn against seeing the upcoming election is a full-fledged democratic contest, better not only than what they describe as the staged vote in Burma in 2010, but some other recent elections in Asia. They caution that anybody who sees the balloting on November 8 as a genuine contest to determine who in fact rules the country \u201cdoesn\u2019t understand the reality of Burma.\u201d That said, they almost all said they will vote, many explaining that they hope that the outcome, combined with continued international scrutiny and pressure for democracy and human rights, will keep open and even widen possibilities for achieving those goals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null}]