Suu Kyi release 'not a Mandela moment'

Despite the global elation, the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi does not herald a new era for Myanmar but instead signals that the junta no longer considers her a threat, analysts say.

Suu Kyi's iconic status has drawn comparisons with Nelson Mandela - who was jailed for 27 years before becoming South Africa's President - but observers doubt that allowing 'The Lady' to walk free will lead to a similar sea change.

Aung San Suu Kyi places flowers from a supporter in her hair after her release from house arrest in Yangon, Myanmar.

"This is not exactly a Mandela moment, because the regime is not prepared for reconciliation," Myanmar research fellow at the London School of Economics Maung Zarni said.

Just six days before Suu Kyi's release, the junta held a rare election - a key step in its carefully crafted 'road map to democracy', which critics claim is designed to legitimize the brutal regime's hold over the country.

With the Nobel Peace Prize winner conveniently sidelined, the long-suffering nation's first poll in 20 years appears to have gone according to the regime's plan with the main army-backed party claiming a landslide victory.

In doing so, it has reduced the perceived challenge to the junta posed by its number one enemy Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) overwhelmingly won the last vote in 1990 but was never allowed to take power. "The military is well-established and would not have released her unless they were very confident," Thailand-based Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo told AFP.

Activists and Western leaders have severely criticized the November 7 election as a ploy to put a civilian mask on army rule, which has repressed the largely impoverished population of Myanmar for nearly five decades.

Many believe the release of Suu Kyi, albeit a welcome and overdue move, was designed to appease foreign condemnation of the vote and divert attention from the surrounding controversies, including widespread accusations of cheating. And even though Suu Kyi's followers have felt brave enough to gather in their thousands to cheer on their heroine after her release on Saturday, fear continues to rule the streets of Yangon.

"This Government is very brutal. They will kill people just to stay in power," said 49-year-old Akhbar, a supporter who only wanted to give one name.

"This junta has given her some freedom but they will watch her closely and keep an account of all her wrongdoings," he added.

While there are no conditions imposed on Suu Kyi's release, it is highly unlikely the paranoid ruling generals will ever allow their popular nemesis to hold a significant position of power.

The Dawn