1990 Burmese General Election (Age of Rebirth)

General elections were held in the Socialist Republic of Burma on 27 May 1990 to elect 492 members of the Constitutional Committee, the institution tasked of crafting a new constitution. It represented the first free multi-party election in the country since 1960, after the military led by Ne Win outsed democratically-elected Prime Minister U Nu. The junta would subsequently dissolve in 1974 and the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was proclaimed, with Ne Win serving both as chairman of the newly-established ruling party and as President of the country.

The results have seen the National League for Democracy, led since 1988 by Aung San Suu Kyi, triumph over the pro-militarist National Unity Party, which won only 56 seats. The Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, Senior General Saw Maung publicly congratulated the NLD on the victory, hailing it as a "truly popular movement", and on 28 May martial law was repealed and military battalions returned to the barracks where they "rightfully belonged". Controversy emerged as an attempted palace coup was carried out by Than Shwe-led hardliners, however failed to materialize as Saw Maung accused them of treason and sent them to prison.

On 30 May 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi was voted in by the Constitutional Committee as the transitional Prime Minister of Burma, marking the first time a civilian assumed office in 28 years, as well as the first woman and youngest person to serve as head of government. As a sign of gratitude, Saw Maung was promoted to Senior General and assumed functions as Chairman of the Defence Services, a position he would mantain until his death in 1997. He also was appointed President of Burma, a position held until 1992.

Economic failure and 8888 riot
Burma has been dominated since 1962 by a military regime led by Ne Win, who, in 1974, proclaimed the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, embracing Marxism, however without adhering to a precise ideology, mantaining proper membership in the Non-Aligned Movement and declined to seek membership in the COMECON, the economic trade organization containing soviet-aligned countries. In the meanwhile, the precedent constitution was suspended in favor of a new one that allowed a new political power, the Burmese Socialist Programme Party, to retain institutional power. All other political associations were banned and individual liberties suppressed, with Burma being effectively transformed in a one-party totalitarian regime. Ne Win was also extremely superstitious, and often relied on the advice of buddhist magicians and performed rituals to avoid bad luck. Once, he ordered the execution of his uncle to avoid misfortune.

Ne Win used the BSPP as a tool to legitimize his power and imposed draconian measures to the economy, attempting to install a model of autarky and self-reliance. Burma was rich in natural resources, however state-owned companies were often put under corrupt military officials who mismanaged the extraction process, adding the fact that workers were not properly equipped with modern tools. In 1963, the Enterprise Nationalization Act was passed, with all private companies being turned to the state. The Burmese Road to Socialism, by 1986, had shown a disastrous failure, boosting the national debt by 10 billion USD, the rise of black market and the overall negative effect over health and educational fields. In that same year, the United Nations ranked Burma as one of the least-developed countries, leading to an unprecedented wave of civil unrest.

Economic decline sparked several, violent rural protests. The protests were fanned by public letters to Ne Win by former second in command General Brigadier Aung Gyi from July 1987, reminding him of the 1967 riots and condemning lack of economic reform, describing Burma as "almost a joke" compared to other Southeast Asian nations. He was later arrested.

On 12 March 1988, students from the RIT were arguing with out-of-school youths inside the Sanda Win tea shop about music playing on a sound system. A drunken youth would not return a tape that the RIT students favoured. A brawl followed in which one youth, who was the son of a BSPP official, was arrested and later released for injuring a student. Students protested at a local police department where 500 riot police were mobilised and in the ensuing clash, one student, Phone Maw, was shot and killed. The incident angered pro-democracy groups and the next day more students rallied at the RIT and spread to other campuses. The students, who had never protested before, increasingly saw themselves as activists. There was growing resentment towards military rule and there were no channels to address grievances, further exacerbated by police brutality, economic mismanagement and corruption within the government.

By mid-March, several protests had occurred and there was open dissent in the army. Various demonstrations were broken up by using tear gas canisters to disperse crowds. On 16 March, students demanding an end to one party rule marched towards soldiers at Inya Lake when riot police stormed from the rear, clubbing several students to death and raping others. Following the latest protests, authorities announced the closure of universities for several months. By June 1988, large demonstrations of students and sympathisers were a daily sight. Many students, sympathisers and riot police died throughout the month as the protests spread throughout Burma from Rangoon. Large scale protests were reported in Pegu, Mandalay, Tavoy, Toungoo, Sittwe, Pakokku, Mergui, Minbu and Myitkyina. On 23 July 1988, Ne Win spoke at what would become the last congress of the BSPP to announce his resignation as party leader and president. He was later succeded by a certain number of politicians, ultimately by Maung Maung. The BSPP nextly convened in late August to decide whether to introduce a multi-party democracy. During the vote, over 98% of delegates voted in favour and this move de-facto disbanded the party, with many of the junior officials joining the NLD.

September Coup
On 17 September 1988, the Tatmadaw, led by Lieutenant General Saw Maung, intervened and deposed president Maung Maung and a military junta known as the "State Order and Law Restoration Council" assumed power. In the first bulletin, the SLORC declared nationwide martial law with curfews in effect between 10 PM and 7 AM. Nextly, an order was issued which dissolved the Burmese Socialist Programme Party and ordered Ne Win to be put under house arrest pending a trial for mismanagement and treason. The coup was not well received by protesters, however Aung San Suu Kyi instructed his supporters to return home and comply with military directives; nextly, Saw Maung organized a meeting with her. The content of the meeting is unknown still to this day, however it was widely speculated that a new general election to be held in a short time was discussed. Nextly, the junta closed universities in January 1989 and banned public gatherings. At the same time, the Armed Forces staged a new offensive against insurgents which used the moment of chaos and anarchy to make significant territorial advancements. On 8 August 1989, the anniversary of the 8888 Uprising, Saw Maung issued a new bulletin which announced the date for free elections set on 27 May 1990.

Electoral campaign
The military junta released campaign regulations on 19 October 1989 and authorized the beginning of the electoral campaign on 7 December 1989. The main political force, which was also widely expected to win, the National League for Democracy, campaigned "by all ways, means and purposes" and attempted to attract as much consensus as possible. The NLD did not follow a precise ideology and was regarded as a catch-all and big tent political party with the sole purpose of restoring democratic rule, charatcheristic that facilitated the victory at the polls.

Ethnic minorities instead rallied under the Shan National League for Democracy which was a parallel-organization of the original NLD, however it was regarded as an ethnic branch to catch as many seats as possible, and received limited success. As of the National Unity Party, it was highly disliked as it was linked to the incumbent military junta and received limited support; despite a modest popular vote, the party won only 56 seats and therefore the military failed to keep control of the nation through legislative means.

Aftermath
Shortly after the polls closed at 10:00 PM, the counting began. Results were announced at 9:50 AM, and minutes after the declaration over a million of Burmese joined the streets in Yangoon to celebrate the results despite gatherings being publicly banned. The overwhelming and decisive victory of the National League for Democracy granted Aung San Suu Kyi a seat in parliament and the concrete possibility of forming and leading a new government. Few days later, inside the military junta a plot was discovered on which Vice Senior General Than Shwe planned to depose Saw Maung and continue with an hardline stance by suppressing the electoral results. Saw Maung knew that if power wouldn't have been turned to a civilian government, the UN and the US would intervene. On 30 May, Than Shwe was reported to have been removed from all posts and sent to a detention facility along with other high-profile figures.

On 31 May, the Consultative Commission met for the first time and in the evening has voted Aung San Suu Kyi to assume the post of Prime Minister of Burma, and consecutively she presented her first government which was sworn in the next day, 1 June 1990.