Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in a televised speech on the first anniversary of her NLD party's ascension to power, called it great progress that people do not have to fear the government anymore. Still, she continues to face a range of difficult problems and admits that reforms have been slower than people expected. The coming year will be critical for her administration's efforts to achieve national reconciliation and lay a solid foundation for economic growth.
As Myanmar's state counselor and foreign affairs minister, Suu Kyi has given priority to the establishment of peace between the army and various armed ethnic groups. In late March, her administration announced that five of Myanmar's 15 major armed groups will sign cease-fire agreements with the government, joining eight others that had concluded similar agreements with the previous administration. However, Shan state has seen a series of clashes between government soldiers and armed ethnic groups.
The international community meanwhile has turned a critical eye on the Suu Kyi-led administration's handling of the Rohingya people, a Muslim minority in Rakhine state that has suffered discrimination at the hands of the majority Buddhists.