The Triumphal Rise of Aung San Suu Kyi

April 1, 2012— -- A newfound optimism has infected much of Burma. The government has relaxed controls and might even make room for pro-democracy advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in the cabinet after this Sunday's by-elections. But government clashes with ethnic minorities in the north of the country have tarnished these hopes for some.

It's campaign season in Burma, but the scenes unfolding along the seemingly endless road between Rangoon and Mawlamyine, 300 kilometers (188 miles) to the southeast, suggest a quasi-religious expectation of salvation, not unlike the response to the Dalai Lama when he visits Tibetan communities in Western countries.

Wherever Burmese politician and popular hero Aung San Suu Kyi turns up these days, she attracts massive crowds. Curious onlookers spend hours waiting just to see the charismatic 66-year-old opposition politician. They carry images of their idol looking like a beaming Madonna figure, and they throw flowers at her convoy as it slowly winds through the narrow, dusty streets.

Whenever Suu Kyi opens the sunroof of her SUV, stands up and graciously greets the people, they reach out to her or hold up their small children. Some in the crowd chant her name and run after the convoy until they eventually stop out of sheer exhaustion or even collapse in the street.

The politician, affectionately known as "the Lady" in Burma, is campaigning for her opposition pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which is participating in the by-elections for seats in the parliament on April 1. The NLD boycotted the main elections in November 2010 because Suu Kyi was under house arrest at the time and election laws were designed to so heavily favor the ruling military junta that international observers called it a farce. The April election is being held to fill only 48 of the 664 seats in parliament -- but, of course, there is much more at stake.A Sudden Turnaround

"Aung San Suu Kyi should bring us democracy. She should lead our country into a happy future," says Daw Thian Aye. "Everyone loves her." Together with the NLD Youth Committee, the 56-year-old has been waiting for hours in front of the upscale Strand Hotel in Mawlamyine for Suu Kyi's departure. Mawlamyine, formerly known as Moulmein, was once the capital of British-controlled Burma. Today, the city is firmly in the hands of NLD supporters.

Like many others, Daw Thian Aye, who runs a small gold shop in the city, is wearing a red headband adorned with the party's emblem, a yellow peacock. "Times are changing, and now everything will work out," she says, expressing an opinion that many hold.

Their optimism stems from a radical change of course by the Burmese government. Only a few months ago, Burma was still in a state of agony. Although Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November 2010, everyone knew that the junta could re-arrest the politician at any time, as had already happened several times in the past.

The opposition, with its aging and divided membership, presented a bleak picture. The newspapers were being censored, and the monks were still afraid after their uprising was crushed in 2007. Many Burmese felt that the country's riches were being sold off to China by a government that appeared to have made itself overly dependent on Beijing.