‘We Only Need Two Things – Real Enemies and Real Friends’: Myanmar’s Democratic Opposition

‘We Only Need Two Things – Real Enemies & Real FriendsMyanmar’s Democratic Opposition

Fredo Rockwell talks to dissident and original pro-democracy protester Linn Thant about the National Unity Government movement and its plans to end military rule 

Linn Thant, the representative of the National Unity Government of Myanmar to the Czech Republic, maintains a small and unassuming office in central Prague. He comes to that office seven days a week, ceaselessly working to free his country from military rule.

Linn Thant’s personal journey, from the streets of Yangon to political asylum in Europe, reflects the misfortune of his nation.

One of the original student protesters from Myanmar’s 1988 uprising, Linn Thant was arrested by military officials in 1990 and immediately sentenced to death. While on death row, he was tortured, both physically and mentally: all of his teeth were smashed out, his right shoulder and right leg were both broken, and he was forced to wear iron shackles on his legs for seven years. 

As a result of his brutal treatment, he is in constant pain today. Nevertheless, while he talks of his time in prison, he does so with a smile on his face.

“I knew that one day I must be free,” he explained. “I believed this, and I believed that I must stay healthy and occupied because of this.”

A dedicated Buddhist, Linn Thant meditated every day during his incarceration, and kept his mind active by studying languages, including French, Spanish, and Japanese. He also drew great comfort from his fellow political prisoners, with whom he formed very close bonds. These included U Win Myint, president of the NUG, and several other members of the NUG leadership.

“We knew that we had to survive,” he said. “Otherwise we could not help our country.”

His sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment, and, in 2008, following a wider amnesty, he was finally released. Three years later, Linn Thant was granted political asylum by the Czech Republic. 

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In February 2021, however, his country needed him again. This was the month that Myanmar’s democratically elected government was overthrown by a military coup d’état (an event famously captured by accident in the background of a fitness dance video). 

Elected members of Myanmar’s parliament set up a committee to try and resist the coup. After forging an alliance of democratically-minded political parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, and ethnic minority groups which had long had an antagonistic relationship with the military, the NUG was launched as an alternative government that April.  

As the NUG’s Foreign Ministry formed, a representative was needed to lead diplomatic efforts in Europe. Linn Thant was an obvious choice. Not only did he know most of the NUG leaders from his time in prison, but Prague (unexpectedly) is an ideal base of operations. 

The Czech Republic has actively supported democratic forces in Myanmar for thirty years – a legacy of its first post-communist president Vaclav Havel, who died in 2011. Havel followed the events of Myanmar’s 1988 uprising with great interest, before leading his own people in a popular uprising against an oppressive regime the following year. 

“President Havel and Aung San Suu Kyi exchanged letters for many years,” Linn Thant explained. “They never met in person, but they were very close in their hearts. He campaigned for her to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.”

Aung San Suu Kyi’s international reputation was severely damaged in 2016 and 2017 when she failed to condemn the military’s persecution of Myanmar’s Rohinga minority, but she is listed as the State Councilor on the NUG website. Her position is mostly symbolic, though. The military arrested her immediately in the aftermath of the coup, and she is currently serving a 26 year prison sentence. 

More than a decade after Havel’s death, support among the Czech government for the people of Myanmar remains strong. They allow Linn Thant to operate freely (although unofficially), and let him set up a bank account for his government. According to Linn Thant, this account is effectively the NUG’s “central bank.” 

Czech authorities have not gone so far as to formally recognize the NUG, nor has the government of any other country. Still, according to Linn Thant, it’s wrong to call the NUG a “government in exile.”

“We control over 50% of Myanmar’s territory,” he says. “We aren’t recognized, but we’re based in Myanmar. We are not in exile.”

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The NUG’s claim to control a majority of the country was first made in September, on the one year anniversary of its declaration of a “people’s war” on the military junta. If this assertion is an exaggeration, it may not be much of one. According to a panel of former UN experts known as the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, the military fully controls a mere 17% of the country. The rest is either contested or controlled by the NUG’s People’s Defence Forces, or is controlled by ethnic-based resistance organisations located mostly in the north and east.

The military may be losing territory, but this has not yet led to a loss of international recognition, and this makes life for NUG officials like Linn Thant increasingly difficult.

“We don’t get any international assistance,” he explained. “The military is killing our people. Why are international community members only hiding and sleeping? They just issue statements. Our people don’t just want statements.

“Every day and night we are getting reports of tragic events like this,” he said, referring to a report of junta troops allegedly killing eleven civilians, including one woman in her 90s.

When asked to explain how he worked to end military rule from his office in Prague, Linn That paraphrased Myanmar’s famous poet, Maung Chaw Nwe. 

“In our life we only need two things: real enemies and real friends.”

“We know who our real enemies are,” he said, referring to Myanmar’s military, “but we don’t yet know who our real friends are. We are really sad about this, but this is my role here – to find out who our real friends are.”

One obstacle that makes finding friends difficult is the lack of attention Myanmar is getting in the world media, partly because of the prominence of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

“Our government fully supports the people of Ukraine,” Linn Thant said. “Our conflicts are actually linked. The terrorist gang that rules our country receives weapons from Russia. If just 1% of the military support the West gives to Ukraine was provided to our People’s Defense Forces, I’m confident the military would quickly be defeated across the entire country.” 

It is a bold claim, but, as always, Linn Thant says this with a calm and reassuring smile that makes the hearer want to believe him. Considering how far the NUG has come with no outside support at all, even a moderate amount of support could prove pivotal.