On May 27, it will be 15 years since elections were held in Burma. In 1990, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won an overwhelming majority with over 80% of the seats, with 16 of those seats won by women candidates. Burma’s military junta whose party won a meager 2% of the seats, chose to ignore the result — because it thought it could.

These two seemingly unrelated events share the same place in my heart. In many ways, there are clear parallels between what we experienced in Indonesia under Suharto, and the situation the Burmese people still now find themselves. They are characterized, on the one hand, by dictatorial regimes committing human-rights abuses, while on the other, people whose desire for democracy has never been stronger and more resolute.

Even during the darkest days of military rule, many of us who have struggled for reform in Indonesia knew that tyrants, in power by virtue of sheer might alone, would never survive. Despite many detractors who predicted dire consequences of chaos and destruction for an Indonesia without Suharto and a strong military government, we knew the will of the people would eventually prevail and the doom and gloom scenarios prove unjustified.

As it turned out, the speed of Indonesia’s transformation from military dictatorship to fledgling democracy proceeded faster than our wildest expectations. Although much still needs to be done and the path ahead is a rocky one, an irreversible direction has been set for my country.

I know that today in Burma ordinary people are fighting the might of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, not with guns but peaceful acts of defiance which are positively courageous. In a country where signatures on a petition can get one arrested, members of the NLD say that nearly half a million people — and the number continues to grow by the day — have signed a petition calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

This beacon of hope for the Burmese people’s desire for freedom has been under custody — in her third house arrest since 1989 — after an attempt on her life on May 30 two years ago during which democracy supporters were attacked by a military-sponsored mob of over 5,000 people. This was provoked by the military’s genuine fear for the strength of the people’s aspirations for democracy.

The incident in northern-western Burma that became known as the Depayin massacre left scores dead, while the ensuing crackdown — with hundreds arrested — was the most ruthless attack on the democracy movement since the 1988 crackdown on nationwide demonstrations.

Yet despite obvious personal risks, many people in Burma continue to soldier on in the struggle for democracy. And they need our unwavering support and encouragement.

Apologists for the regime, many of whom ironically hail from so-called “free” countries, like to parrot the well-used security arguments that democracy cannot be rushed, and that without the military’s “law and order,” the country would just fall apart. Such tired, patronizing talk rings hollow around my ears. After all, Indonesia is today Southeast Asia’s largest democracy despite these detractors — not because of them.

That’s also why the Indonesian caucus for Burma represents parties right across the political spectrum such is the support in my country for democratic change in Burma. We feel a strong sense of solidarity with our colleagues in Burma because we were in the same boat as them, not so long ago.

While we were struggling against the injustices of the military, the Burmese people’s overwhelming vote for democracy in 1990 gave us hope that we could achieve the same in Indonesia, despite what seemed at the time like a hopeless cause in the face of an entrenched military regime and an unshakable dictator.

So it can be with Burma too. Fifteen years may seem like a long time to wait for democracy but it doesn’t make the results of the 1990 polls any less valid.

The Burmese regime’s National Convention to draft a new constitution cannot possibly be legitimate when nine political parties, including the NLD, which won 91% of the parliamentary seats, have been excluded. This makes a mockery of democracy and any election conducted as a result of this new constitution cannot be credible, especially when the results of the previous general election remain ignored.

With the flowering of democratic change around the region, now’s the time for Southeast Asian parliamentarians to take a more proactive stance on Burma. If our fates as a people are becoming inextricably linked, then so should our moral duty to support each other. At this point, supporting their struggle for democracy is the least that Burma’s people should expect from us.

Ms. Katjasungkana is an Indonesian member of parliament and vice president of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Caucus for Democracy in Myanmar.