The leader of a prominent pro-democracy party in Myanmar resigned on Thursday over concerns that this year’s long-awaited elections would not be free and fair as promised by the country’s military rulers.
Phyo Min Thein, chairman of the Union Democracy Party (UDP), said election laws were too strict and had been drafted in a way that ensured a party backed by the military regime would win most house seats and prolong the junta’s grip on power.
“I had expectations that the entire [Burmese] people would be allowed to take part in politics and of the release political prisoners, their participation in the elections, freedom of campaigning and freedom of press,” he said. “However, none of these things has happened so far, so I have decided to drop out of politics and the elections.”
Phyo Min Thein, 41, was widely seen as one of the brightest hopes for democracy in the former Burma. A student activist who served 14 years in prison for his anti-junta protests, his charisma earned him popularity among Myanmar’s people.
His resignation follows a boycott of the polls by the now-defunct National League for Democracy party (NLD), led by long-detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, over “unfair and unjust” election laws and imprisonment of many of its members.
Myanmar has not yet set a date for its first multi-party election in two decades, but says the polls will take place this year and will be free, fair and inclusive.
Suu Kyi’s NLD won the 1990 election by a landslide, but the junta refused to hand over power.
Critics have already derided this year’s election as a sham to entrench nearly five decades of military rule and say a constitution passed in 2008 reserves only a limited role for politicians who are not allied with the regime.
In a recent interview, Phyo Min Thein claimed the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a party regarded as a vehicle for the junta, had been granted state money and given unfair privileges to ensure victory in the polls.
The USDP is top-heavy with government ministers who recently retired from the military and is expected to work together with at least six other parties believed to be fronts for the regime. In total, 46 parties, about two-thirds representing Myanmar’s many ethnic groups, have entered a registration process for the elections. The army-appointed election commission has yet to decide which parties and candidates can take part.
Most of the parties have limited funds and strict election laws might prevent many of their potential candidates from running. Some are already complaining about restrictions and heavy surveillance by military intelligence.
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