In Myanmar, passionate supporters of Nobel laureate and former political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi cheered, hoping for the Myanmar presidential elections in favor of Suu Kyi.
This momentous general elections in the history of this military-dominated country is slated on Sunday, November 8. Dubbed as the most emancipated general elections since 1990, when the first multi-party election was held after decades of military rule, this election is a step of bringing Myanmar’ political reforms.
In a gathering of thousands in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon during their final and massive rally to bring Suu Kyi to the country’s highest political position, the leader strongly expressed her quest for a real democracy. Amidst the boundless and thunderous applause of supporters and bystanders Suu Kyi said her final piece “Some people say ‘it’s not time for us to achieve real democracy yet, but I think its just because they don’t want to give it to us, “Everyone deserves democracy.”
It was back in 1990, when Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party was denied of victory, when everyone was convinced they won but Myanmar’s military junta rejected the results.
Since 2011, the incumbent president of Myanmar, also known as Burma Thein Sein has been pressing on for extensive political and economic reforms. Yet the country’s military-dominated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), still is holding on to the remnants of decades of authoritarian rule and international isolation” – even barring Suu Kyi to the presidency.
While Sunday’s election votes is expected to favor Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, however people on the inside and outside of Myanmar had their views too. A senior US government official said that Myanmar’s election is not going to be a high quality election, the process is going to be fraught… it is slanted toward the ruling elite.” Meanwhile, London-based policy institute Chatham House says the “pivotal” election is one step in the democratization of the country.
Myanmar’s journey to real democracy has a long way to go, electoral hurdles to overcome and military barricades to break. But Aung San Suu Kyi’s quest to the presidency, is not far from reality, if the election is free and fair.
