# Is Suu Kyi Burma's Nelson Mandela?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suu-kyi-burmas-nelson-mandela/617524>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 1, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suu-kyi-burmas-nelson-mandela/617524 "2012-04-01T23:26:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suu-kyi-burmas-nelson-mandela/617524/1 "2012-04-01T23:26:18Z")

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I’m old enough to remember when Nelson Mandela was in prison. Suddenly one day he’s released and he leads South Africa away from Apartheid.

Is Suu Ky the modern day Nelson Mandela? Now that’s she’s released from house arrest, is she expected to bring in similar reforms?

From what I recall Mandela had very little opposition after his last prison release. It’s like the whole country was waiting for him to lead them. Is Burma a similar situation?

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**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-suu-kyi-burmas-nelson-mandela/617524/2 "2012-04-03T14:06:09Z")

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Not sure. Mandela was both the figurehead of a political organization and a key figure in an armed revolution, so it’s not a one-to-one correspondence, but for PR purposes, yeah, sure, I could be persuaded it was the case. But I’m not sure about the aftermath - South Africa went through complete constitutional reforms after 1994, I’m not sure what the way forward is for Burma.