The NLD is expected to win the most seats.
Advertisement
“Mother Suu is our hero”. The tiny village of Wartheinkha, where Myint Thein lives, has no running water or electricity. Yet the people here, like many in Myanmar, see Suu Kyi’s rise in politics as part of a national narrative.
EVEN before the November 8 election comes around in Burma, also known as Myanmar, lawmakers have begun to question just how free and fair it will be with odds stacked in the government’s favour and large numbers of people unable to vote. She was thrust into the forefront of the pro-democracy movement, which was brutally crushed by the junta. But the result was ignored by the military, which kept Ms Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years. “We want her to be our leader”. Both of her sons also live in Britain possessing British citizenship.
Critics often blame the National League for Democracy leader for her poor management style.
It is the first time the party has contested an election for 25 years. The United States, Japan, Norway, and other important actors in Myanmar need to continue emphasizing to Naypyidaw that a free election is crucial to further restoring military relations and to continued large-scale foreign investment in the country.
The NLD however needs around 67 percent of the elected portion to secure a majority.
Though democratic reforms started in Myanmar three years back, its present constitution that was adopted by the military junta in 2008 does not permit a Myanmarese with a foreign spouse to become the President. But he’s less certain what would happen to the party without Suu Kyi. Changing that requirement would take 75 percent support from Parliament, meaning it is practically impossible without military support.
In a recent interview to senior Indian media personality, Karan Thapar, Suu Kyi was quite forthcoming about her resolve to lead the next government, notwithstanding constitutional and regulatory obstacles. Rioting by Buddhist mobs has left more than 200 dead and driven well over 100,000 Rohingya from their homes. The cards had been issued as temporary identification documents, and white-card holders had been permitted to vote in the 2010 elections.
The attack will raise security concerns ahead of a rally by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi in Yangon on Sunday. Her admirers overseas have criticized her for not taking a strong stand against human-rights abuses. The police station is normally used to interrogate political activists. In the weeks before the election, these publications have been running long articles touting the current Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) government’s achievements, and seemingly dropping any pretense of objectivity.
A vendor sells merchandise featuring Aung San Suu Kyi. “But now she has deviated from her path”. The disturbances rather suggest that the USDP is trying to use all the advantages of incumbency, and decades of military rule, to best help the army’s favored party.
It was one of several moves seen as an attempt by Suu Kyi to prevent competition from rivals.
NLD officials say it doesn’t matter who is chosen.
She also said “the disenfranchisement of certain communities and groups, particularly on discriminatory grounds, does not meet that test”.
Advertisement
There are more than 90 registered political parties expecting to win votes next month.
