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Burmese general election, 2010From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Multi-party general elections are scheduled to be held in Burma (officially Myanmar) on 7 November 2010, in accordance with the new constitution which was approved in a referendum held in May 2008. The general election forms the fifth step of the seven-step "road map to democracy" proposed by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in 2003,[1][2] the sixth and seventh steps being the convening of elected representatives and the building of a modern, democratic nation, respectively.[3] The date of the election, 7 November, was announced by the SPDC on 13 August.[4]
BackgroundArticle 59F of the new constitution bars from the Presidency (not public office in general) people who are married to citizens of states other than Myanmar. Some commentators claim that this means Aung San Suu Kyi will be unable to contest the election,[5][6] but since her husband is deceased, she would not appear to be barred on this basis.[7] The United Nations, members of ASEAN and Western nations have insisted that the elections will not be credible without the participation of Suu Kyi.[8][9][10] The National League for Democracy (NLD) had set a number of conditions for participating in the poll, including changes to the constitution to reduce the army's influence, international supervision for free and fair polls, and freeing all political prisoners including Suu Kyi.[11] Senior General Than Shwe, leader of the ruling military junta, has pledged to release political prisoners in an amnesty before the election, though he has not stated when this would occur.[12] On 11 August 2009, Suu Kyi was sentenced to imprisonment for three years with hard labour over a trespass incident. This sentence was commuted by the military rulers to further house arrest of eighteen months.[13] The NLD later announced they would not take part in the election due to the election laws.[14] Key ministries including justice, defence and the interior will remain under the control of the military and under the 2008 constitution, a quarter of the 440 parliament seats will be reserved for the military officials.[15] People holding military positions are not permitted to contest the election;[16] as such, 20 members of the junta, including Prime Minister Thein Sein, retired from their posts to participate in the election.[17] New election lawsThe first of five election laws was announced in March 2010, concerning the creation of an election commission.[18] The Union Election Commission Law states that the military government will appoint all members of the commission and have the final say over the election results. Members of the commission must be "an eminent person, to have integrity and experience, to be loyal to the state and its citizens".[19] A 17-member election commission was later named, headed by a former military officer.[20] The second law bans anyone currently serving a prison term from belonging to a political party, and therefore over 2,000 political prisoners will not be able to participate, possibly including Aung San Suu Kyi (depending on whether her house arrest is deemed to fall under the definition of "serving a prison term").[21][22] The Political Parties Registration Law also bars members of religious orders, members of insurgent groups 'as defined by the state' and foreigners from joining political parties.[23] This separation of Buddhism and politics is a long-standing feature of Burmese politics, dating back to before independence, and was incorporated in the 1947 independence Constitution at the request of the monkhood.[24] The other laws stipulate that anyone currently serving a prison term is barred from running or voting in the elections for the upper and lower houses.[25] A 224-member House of Nationalities will have 168 elected candidates and 56 nominated by the military chief, while the 440-member House of Representatives will have 330 elected civilians and 110 military representatives.[25] At the same time, the results of the 1990 elections were annulled as they did not comply with the new election laws.[26] The new laws have been described as a "farce" by the Philippines[27] and a "mockery" by the United States.[28] Political partiesParties are required to have at least 1,000 members to participate in the election and had to register by 6 June. 40 parties have been approved by the Electoral Commission to contest the elections,[29] some of which are linked to ethnic minorities.[30] The National League for Democracy, which overwhelmingly won the previous 1990 elections but were never allowed to take power, decided not to participate. Nonetheless, some senior members have formed the National Democratic Force to contest the elections, claiming that a boycott would play into the hands of the government.[30] The government has established the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the successor to the mass organization Union Solidarity and Development Association, which claims to have around half the population as members. The National Unity Party, which contested the 1990 election as the main pro-government party and won 10 seats, has also registered to run. Reuters estimate that six parties in total are allied to the governmant.[30] The new Democratic Party, established by Mya Than Than Nu, the daughter of former Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu and Nay Ye Ba Swe, the daughter of former Prime Minister Ba Swe, is aiming to take part in the election.[31][32] Mya Than Than Nu will run as General Secretary of the party.[33] Media coverage of the party has been banned by the military government.[34] Another new party is being formed comprising members of a ceasefire group and a party that won seats in the 1990 elections. 5 former members of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and 5 members of Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) together with 5 other Mon elites, who make up the new party, found 15 members committee and later announced that they are not going to participate in the upcoming election.[35] The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, a Shan political party that came second in the 1990 election, is participating in the election as the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party.[36][37] The SPDC has not answered opposition calls to amend the 2008 constitution or state clearly how the electoral process will be managed and the terms that new political parties can organise.[38] In a speech to military retirees, Than Shwe said that the transition to a parliamentary system meant various parties with different opinions would appear, but he warned that the new parties should "avoid anything that leads to harming state interests".[39] The junta, according to the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, will also be setting up two or three proxy parties to contest the election.[40] The constituencies available for contesting are 330 civilian seats in the House of Representatives (out of 440) and 168 civilian seats in the House of Nationalities (out of 224).[41] The remaining seats are designated for military officials and to be selected by the military chief. Contesting political parties
ControversyViolenceThere have been concerns from aid agencies that the upcoming election could see a growing number of refugees fleeing to Thailand and China, due to alleged government repression, poverty and low-level ethnic conflict.[42] Ceasefires between the military government and ethnic groups were also deteriorating.[43] In the run up to the election, there were several bomb blasts in Burma. A bomb attack on the Burmese New Year killed at least 9 people in Yangon and injured many others, including the regional commander of the Burmese Army,[44][45] while a series of explosions were reported at a hydroelectric project being jointly built by a Chinese company in the north of the country, the latter thought to be the work of anti-government groups.[46][47] External political responsesThe Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswomen, Jiang Yu, commented on the election during Than Shwe's visit to China. "The international community can provide constructive help [for the elections] and] refrain from any negative impact on the domestic political process of Myanmar and on regional peace and stability."[48] The following day, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to the US Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on State and Foreign Affairs where she mentioned that the trial against Aung San Suu Kyi was allegedly "baseless charges." She also added that the government was "continuing resistance to a free and open electoral process. If they stay on the track they're on, their elections in 2010 will be totally illegitimate and without any meaning in the international community." She admitted that "We are absolutely committed to trying to come up with an approach that might influence the regime. We are going to try to do our best to influence them to see that this repressive regime is not one that we should continue to support, and hopefully get a greater international base to take action against them." She claimed to have support from other countries, "I have been heartened by the response that we have received. I have spoken to a number of the foreign secretaries of Asean countries, who've issued strong statements." She finally added that she was working to get more support in the United Nations.[49] See alsoReferences
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