August 13th Inside Burma News

Yangon, August 13 – “The multi-party general elections will be held throughout Myanmar on November 7 ( Sunday ) this year,” the Union Election Commission ( UEC ) announced this morning.

This announcement of UEC was read out by the state-owned TV Myanmar at 10 am ( MST ) this morning.

This will be the first general elections to be held in Myanmar in two decades time. In the last general elections held on May 27, 1990, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy ( NLD ) won by landslide capturing 392 seats out of 485 seats at stake.

But this time as it turned out the NLD, which has rejected the military government’s 2008 State Constitution, has chosen to boycott the forthcoming general elections, which is to be held under this constitution.

In deciding not to re-register with the Union Election Commission which amounted to boycotting the forthcoming general elections, the NLD has also openly criticized the Electoral laws and Political Parties Registration Law as “unfair and unjust.”

Together with the NLD, four other existing political parties including NLD’s biggest allied party namely Shan Nationalities League for Democracy ( SNLD ) also decided to boycott the forthcoming general elections.

Now all these five political parties including NLD have become defunct because of their refusal to re-register with the Union Election Commission.

However so, from among 10 political parties that have existed for two decades, five political parties including pro-government National Unity Party ( former Burma Socialist Programme Party of the late General Ne Win ) have chosen to apply for their continued existence.

As of yesterday evening, a total of 47 political parties have submitted applications to the UEC to form and to exist as political parties.

According to the latest announcement made by the UEC, out of 47 political parties that have submitted applications to form and exist as political parties, 40 parties including the all powerful government’s party namely the Union Solidarity and Development Party ( USDP ) have been granted permission to register as political parties.

“The remaining seven political parties are still under scrutiny for receiving the permission to register as political parties,” the announcement said.

The Union Solidarity and Development Party ( USDP ), which was formed by Prime Minister U Thein Sein and 26 other ministers and deputy ministers, who have resigned from the military posts to contest in the elections, is still by far and large the biggest and most powerful political party.

The ( USDP ) has already opened its headquarters in Nay Pyi Taw and is currently busy opening its branches throughout the country.

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