Military rule has been a complete and utter disaster for Myanmar. It's one of the poorest countries in the world, brutal repression, ethnic cleansing, isolation, the list goes on. There is nothing at all to redeem it.
I'm from Nepal. We're next doors to Myanmar. We have democracy, social policies (even universal healthcare, which is comically bad anyway but we do have that), freedom of speech, free press, yadda yadda but Myanmar is still richer than us. The disagreements of democratically elected leaders has been the main cause of political instability for us for more than a decade now.
> We have democracy, social policies (even universal healthcare, which is comically bad anyway but we do have that), freedom of speech, free press, yadda yadda
Most middle-eastern countries do not have this either...
> but Myanmar is still richer than us.
but I am willing to bet they are richer than both Nepal and Myanmar. It seems what Myanmar has over Nepal is natural resources, (just like the middle eastern countries). This is nothing to be proud of.
We are blessed in other ways too. We have a huge hydroelectricity potential that we haven't tapped fully. The problem is that people are insanely xenophobic and foreign investment is derided as "selling out to foreigners" here. Existing rules make it a nightmare for prospective foreign investors. There's not much capital inside to invest on our own natural resources.
Don't know what you're getting at. There's no autocracy in Nepal (at least not yet). The Maoists won a free and fair election (Socialism is just that popular here). At most the country is super-duper and insanely socialistic, with government owning multiple large monopolies. Unless you call yourself a "socialist" you won't be winning any elections here. Unfortunately there is no pro-business/capitalistic political party in Nepal and that is what I sincerely believe is lacking here.
Freedom alone is not democracy; that's just liberalism. Social justice, economic equality and others including political power control from people are important part of democracy.