Myanmar democracy in new era as Suu Kyi sidelined by army

By GRANT PECK and ELAINE KURTENBACH
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — In sentencing Myanmar’s iconic democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to prison, the country’s generals have effectively exiled her from electoral politics. But that doesn’t mean the Southeast Asian nation is back to square one in its stop-start efforts to move toward democracy. In fact, a younger generation that came of age as the military began loosening its grip is well positioned to carry on the struggle. A de facto coup on Feb. 1 pushed Suu Kyi’s elected government from power, throwing the country into turmoil. But erasing the gains of a decade of opening up has proved more difficult.