AUTHORITIES have failed to auction off Aung San Suu Kyi’s lakeside mansion – 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 US$128mil (RM554mil) 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.
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 similar areas might fetch US$1mil to US$2mil (RM4.3mil to RM8.7mil).
It was first put up for sale in March 2024 for 315 billion kyats – US$150mil based on the official exchange rate – but has been incrementally discounted in each of the three auctions since then. — AFP
