Supportersof Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi applaud… This is despite the creation of a Rule of Law and Tranquillity Committee in the parliament (of which Aung San Suu Kyi became chair after her election to parliament in 2012).
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In this July 19, 2015 photo, a woman holds a picture of Gen. Aung…
The NLD leader and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, has criss-crossed the country without major incidents, galvanizing crowds with a message of sweeping change, faster reforms and a state respectful of ethnic minorities.
“The country needs change”. Given the recent political history of Myanmar, however, many people are still concerned at what might happen if the vote doesn’t go as planned. 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. “Aung San Suu Kyi is CEO, central executive committee members are appointed executives who are loyal and responsible only to the CEO, and party members are minor shareholders who do not have voting rights”, writes regional expert Aung Din. It should have formed the government, but the generals ignored the result and kept her under house arrest (where she already was) for most of the ensuing two decades.
Suu Kyi, whose two sons are British citizens, is not qualified to be nominated as president due to a clause in Myanmar’s constitution that bars candidates with close foreign relatives.
The Secretary-General “urges all concerned in Myanmar to eschew any kind of pressure, intimidation, dissemination of hatred or violence against individuals or organizations based on their ethnic identity, gender, religious persuasion or political views”, said a statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson. The cards had been issued as temporary identification documents, and white-card holders had been permitted to vote in the 2010 elections.
“That’s not necessarily telling us [the NLD is] going to win the elections, but she certainly is still extremely popular, that is something that’s not just confected outside the country by the worldwide community”. Nevertheless, parliament has itself arguably performed much better over the years than could be expected in 2010, notwithstanding the constitutional provision whereby appointed military representatives make up 25 percent of legislators in both chambers of the union assembly. Here are seven factors at play in the pending elections that may surprise readers. The implied reference was to the military, still the de facto power in the land and guaranteed to remain so by the constitution. There has been a build-up of troops in Shan state, she says, along with torture, confiscation of village lands for military installations, and the use of villagers as human shields.
A candidate running for parliament representing Myanmar’s largest opposition party is in hospital with serious wounds after being attacked by men armed with swords.
A victory by the ruling, military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) would largely maintain the current status quo and slow the prospect of reforms to the military’s considerable political and economic influence.
How fair the upcoming election will be remains an open question. In other words, Myanmar’s first free election in twenty-five years would ultimately be troubled but not unfree-a situation similar to elections held in other young democracies plagued by civil conflict, like Nigeria or Indonesia.
Suu Kyi’s party won the last openly contested poll in 1990, taking 392 of 492 seats.
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Her faith was reciprocated by the tens of thousands attending the rally clad in red NLD-tshirts with slogans including “We must win” emblazoned on the back.
