Pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD),
may not win as many seats as they expect in by-elections in Burma today, local
politicians said yesterday.
Suu Kyi may be well known locally and internationally, but the NLD was
not so popular among local people and they were not alone in the contest, the
politicians said.
The Nobel laureate has never said how many seats she expects to get
from the by-elections today, saying simply that they hoped to win "as many
constituencies as possible".
By-elections are being held for 40 seats in the lower house (Pyithu
Hluttaw), plus six seats in the upper house (Amyotha Hluttaw) and two seats in
regional forums. All up, polls will be held for 48 seats to replace MPs who
were picked for Cabinet posts and other executive positions. However, this is
just a small proportion of the 664 seats in all levels of Burma's Parliament.
By-elections in three constituencies in Kachin State have been
cancelled due to security reasons. Therefore, ballots will only be held for 45
seats today, according to the Foreign Ministry.
Suu Kyi has dominated media reports about the by-elections but analysts
said the NLD may not win a landslide victory as it did in 1990. They expected
the party to get a maximum 60 per cent of the 45 seats.
A total of 157 candidates from 17 political parties, including Suu Kyi's
NLD, which boycotted the general election in November 2010, are running in
today's ballots. This includes seven ethnic candidates from five ethnic
parties.
The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has candidates
running in all 45 constituencies, while the opposition NLD has 44 candidates in
the race.
A coalition of 10 small parties including ethnic parties in the
Parliament under the Fraternal Democratic Alliance has 21 candidates competing
and is tipped to get some seven to 10 seats this time.
"We are not interested in this by-election [outcome] but want to
use this opportunity to keep in touch with voters and maintain a democratic
atmosphere in the country," said U Thu Wai, chairman of the Democratic
Party (Burma).
Dr Than Nyein, coordinator of the National Democratic Force (NDF), said
his hopes were not high but he expected to win some seats today even though the
by-election was not a prime goal for his party.
The NDF is a faction that split from the NLD when the latter boycotted
the 2010 election. Dr Than Nyein is a former NLD executive member.
Parties representing ethnic minorities said they expected to win some
seats in their strongholds. The NLD had no strong candidates in their
respective areas, they said. "Our strong competitors are mostly from the
ruling USDP, not NLD," said Naing Khink Maung of the All Mon Regions
Democratic Party.
Aung San Suu Kyi may be popular but the NLD was little known in
predominantly ethnic areas, according to Sao Than Myint of the Shan
Nationalities Democratic Party, which has three candidates standing today.
Suu Kyi herself is standing in a ballot for Kaw Hmu township, south of
Yangon. It is a poor region that was seriously affected by Cyclone Nargis in
2008.
The current regime, which came to power after the general election in
late 2010, has sought to portray the latest by-elections as free and fair. It
has invited international observers in a bid to get Western countries to lift
sanctions imposed against the previous military administration.
Some 159 international observers were invited to monitor the casting of
ballots today. Hundreds of foreign journalists also got permission to cover the
event. Poll observers and journalists are allowed to see all polling stations
and ballot counting.
The NDF's Dr Than Nyein said the election atmosphere had improved and
was better than during the 2010 ballot.
"The authorities have made it appear to be more democratic in
front of the international community," he said in an interview.
"The 2010 election was held under a military regime but now it is
an elected civilian government," he said. "The government has not
pushed this election hard as it already has a lot of MPs in the Parliament.
"What they need now is international creditability."
Many politicians from parties interviewed by The Nation yesterday said
they also felt the atmosphere in these by-elections was freer and fairer than
the general election. However, Suu Kyi said Friday that the by-election was not
genuinely free and fair.
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation
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