First poll in Burma (Myanmar) in two decades

Burma Coat of Arms

Burma, or otherwise known as Myanmar, will be holding its first general elections on 7 November 2010. This was announced yesterday by ruling generals, ending months of speculation. The poll is the first since pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in 1990. The military never allowed her party to take power, and it was disbanded. Ms Suu Kyi has been either in jail or under house arrest in the past 20 years, and has been barred from standing because of past criminal convictions, as are many other pro-democracy activists.

Critics of the elections say that it will be a sham, due to the poll laws which are in the favour of the authorities. The law states that those with criminal convictions and members of religious orders cannot take part, ruling out many activists and monks. A new consititution reserves 25% of the parliament for the military, and some of the parties that have registered for the polls are seen to be proxies of the military. 

One party not linked to the military has already complained to the Election Commission that its members are being intimidated. Ironically, the members of the Election Comission are handpicked by the Burmese military government.

I feel that this election is a complete sham as the current military government seems to have removed any loopholes that might be exploited by the opposition, thus reducing chances that any party that could gain an overall majority of the votes could register. Moreover, even if the
military's worst-case scenario happens, they would still be in control of 25% of the parliament. With the new constitution stating that any constitutional change would have to garner more than 75% approval of the parliament, it meant that the military would effectively still be in control of the parliament.

Despite this, there are still people that feel that this election, however flawed, could be the start of a process of much-needed change.

Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10961366