Myanmar Election To Be Held On Nov 7

Myanmar government announced today a multiparty democracy election was to be held on November 7 of this year, leaving a few-month-old political parties with 3 months to campaign.

To date, 40 out of 47 political parties have been approved by the election commission to contest in the poll. The rest are still waiting for the approval, including a Kachin party led by Dr Tuja, a former leader of Kachin Independent Organization (KIO). Two political parties emerged as the strongest of all. One of them is Union Solidarity and Development Party, which was transformed from USDA, a mass civil society organization. The current prime minister is supposedly leading the civic-organization-turned political party along with several incumbent ministers. The other one is National Unity Party, previously known as Burma Socialist Programme Party. Both parties are comprised of retired army officers at the top echelon.

The last election held in Myanmar was 20 years ago, in which the National League for Democracy Party won a landslide victory. The NLD, however, refused to participate this time citing unfair electoral laws.

The scheduled election received criticisms from the UN, the US and the EU, which pointed out a lack of inclusiveness and favoritism.