Last Saturday, the monks managed to march past the house of the opposition leader and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under on-and-off house arrest for the past 18 years. The monks paid tribute to the opposition leader, who has become a symbol of the country’s resistance.

The protests were originally organised by Myanmar's opposition forces, which urged people to protest against the massive increase in fuel and commodity prices. But these protests, which took place this August, were suppressed by the military regime. The monks then decided to take over the initiative.

When the monks marched to Aung San Suu Kyi’s house last Saturday, it was a clear political signal to the regime, said Ulrike Bey, from the Burma Initiative in Asiahouse in Essen, Germany.

"It was a very symbolic act. It was only after this that the monks were joined by hundreds of thousands of people. To me, this shows how big a role she (Aung San Suu Kyi) plays in Myanmar. By publicly supporting her, the monks gave the protests a new direction."

A symbol of resistance

Aung San Suu Kyi is the country's symbol of resistance. She says that her role is to "bring democracy to Burma". She wants "to make sure that democracy comes to Burma quickly, and that it comes in the right way."

The National League for Democracy (NLD) is the biggest opposition party in Myanmar. The party won the1990 general election, securing 80 percent of the seats in the parliament. But the junta ignored the election results and refused to hand over power.

Today, the influence of the NLD has been heavily restricted. Many party members now operate in exile or as an underground movement.

"The NLD is banned from acting publicly," explained Bey. "Its offices had to close down, apart from the headquarters in Rangoon. The 1988 protests were started by university students. Most of them have now become members of the NLD, after leaving prison. In 2005, they formed their own resistance group."

The 8888 Uprising

The student protests in 1988, also known as the 8888 Uprising (the protests started on 8 August 1988), were triggered by the military regime's controversial economic reforms.

The government decided to cancel certain currency denominations which meant that the people's savings ended up in smoke. When the protestors started demanding political reforms as well, the military regime put a brutal end to the demonstrations. Up to 3,000 people have reportedly lost their lives.

Since that time, the junta has attempted to break down all opposition in the country. Besides the NLD and the organised 1988 uprising leaders, the resistance of various minority groups has also played a very important role.

The role of ethnic minorities

Myanmar is an ethnically-diverse country with at least 135 ethnic groups. Besides the NLD, there are also eight ethnic parties, which are officially allowed. The Shan National League for Democracy (SNLD) ranks among the most important ones.

"Ethnic minorities also sometimes form political groups," explained Ulrike Bey. The minorities did fight each other in the past but have now declared a truce. "Still armed, these groups always have a political agenda of some sort. But most groups have been banned, or heavily restricted."

With the Kayin, the Shan is one of Myanmar’s biggest ethnic minorities. Their calls for greater autonomy have been continuously put down by the military government. "The ethnic minorities have reportedly supported the ongoing protests," said Bey. "They have shown their solidarity with the monks and the civilians."

Most opposition parties have had to establish their headquarters in neighbouring Thailand and have been supporting the resistance movement from there, encouraging their supporters in Myanmar to join in.

Soe Aung from the National Council of the Union of Burma, now living in Thai exile, is convinced that the continuous protests will be effective: "The military government must know that they cannot last forever. They have to talk to people, to other political leaders."

No time to waste

Aung San Suu Kyi is also expecting a lot from the ongoing demonstrations. She does not want to lose any time: "I would like change to come as quickly as possible because there is so much we need to do for our country. I don’t think we can afford to wait. Personally, I don’t think we can even afford to wait another day because every day that we wait for change means one day lost for us in efforts to rebuild our country," she said.

Even if it is not clear whether this wave of protests will bring about change, what is certain is that, in the end, the opposition parties will have come out stronger from this direct conflict with the military regime. They will have found out that it is possible to resist and to stand up to the regime in front of the whole world.