ABSTRACT
Burma is a land of tragically missed opportunities. It has the resources to be rich but is desperately poor. No noncommunist country in Asia has been as persistently misruled as Burma. The Burmese have never lived under a government that observes civil liberties. Burma's numerous crises, including a Communist insurgency, secessionist wars by hill tribes, rampant government corruption, and a botched economic strategy called the "Burmese Way to Socialism". Many citizens initially were willing to accept a military government that promised to safeguard the nation's security. The elections were held on May 27, 1990. The results were astounding: In an extraordinary display of self-confidence and nerve, Burmese voters in overwhelming numbers marked their ballots for opposition candidates. Seventy-three percent of eligible adults voted, and they gave opposition candidates, particularly those of the National League for Democracy, 81 percent of the seats in the proposed legislature. There were many reasons for the opposition's electoral triumph.
