Auction of Suu Kyi’s Myanmar mansion fails for fourth time

AFP | Yangon

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Myanmar authorities failed to auction off Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside mansion yesterday -- the fourth time the sale of the jailed Nobel peace laureate’s property has attracted no bidders.

A court-appointed auctioneer emerged from the rusty gate of the sprawling two-storey pile on Yangon’s leafy University Avenue Road to offer it at a discounted $128 million starting price.

Surveyed by a gaggle of journalists and around a dozen police, the auctioneer asked for bidders three times before proclaiming: “We hereby announce that the auction is not successful.”

Suu Kyi has been jailed since being deposed by a 2021 military coup but spent years under house arrest at the historic property during a previous period of junta rule.

After lengthy legal wrangling her estranged brother has won the rights to half of the villa. Its sale is being overseen by junta-appointed officials and Suu Kyi is entitled to half of the proceeds.

During her house arrest at 54 University Avenue Road, Suu Kyi would make speeches at the boundary fence -- drawing crowds of hundreds with lofty rhetoric about democracy and non-violent resistance.

Myanmar’s decade-long democratic experiment saw Suu Kyi become the elected figurehead after her release in 2010, and the colonial-era home was where she steered its nascent civilian government. As the country began to recover from pariah status it saw a series of landmark visits from foreign leaders including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Since the military snatched back power, Suu Kyi has been jailed in the capital Naypyidaw on a litany of charges critics have slammed as farcical and designed to remove her from politics.

Real estate agents say similar-sized properties in upmarket Yangon areas might fetch $1 million to $2 million.