Myanmar election passes off peacefully
Source: Agencies |
November 8, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE first multi-party general election in Myanmar for 20 years ended peacefully as polling booths closed at 4pm as scheduled yesterday, and the counting of votes followed immediately in the presence of the public.
While it remained unclear when full results would be announced - officials would only say they would come "in time" - there was little doubt that the military government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) would get a huge share of the parliamentary seats.
State television announced last night that 57 candidates who ran against no opposition had been declared winners of seats in national and regional parliaments. Forty-three are USDP members and the others are allies of the military government. One of the winners is Foreign Minister Nyan Win, the report said.
The USDP, which is led by a just-retired general and has the government's enormous financial resources at its disposal, is fielding 1,112 candidates for the 1,159 seats in the two-house national parliament and 14 regional parliaments.
The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Force, is contesting just 164 spots.
Some potential opposition candidates - including Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won a landslide victory in the last election in 1990 but was barred from taking office - are under house arrest or in prison. Many other potential candidates in the poverty-wracked nation were simply unable to raise the US$500 registration fee.
No matter what the election results are, the constitution sets aside 25 percent of °?parliamentary seats for military appointees.
Voter turnout appeared light at many polling stations. Some local residents said they were staying at home as rumors circulated that bombs would explode.
While it remained unclear when full results would be announced - officials would only say they would come "in time" - there was little doubt that the military government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) would get a huge share of the parliamentary seats.
State television announced last night that 57 candidates who ran against no opposition had been declared winners of seats in national and regional parliaments. Forty-three are USDP members and the others are allies of the military government. One of the winners is Foreign Minister Nyan Win, the report said.
The USDP, which is led by a just-retired general and has the government's enormous financial resources at its disposal, is fielding 1,112 candidates for the 1,159 seats in the two-house national parliament and 14 regional parliaments.
The largest opposition party, the National Democratic Force, is contesting just 164 spots.
Some potential opposition candidates - including Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won a landslide victory in the last election in 1990 but was barred from taking office - are under house arrest or in prison. Many other potential candidates in the poverty-wracked nation were simply unable to raise the US$500 registration fee.
No matter what the election results are, the constitution sets aside 25 percent of °?parliamentary seats for military appointees.
Voter turnout appeared light at many polling stations. Some local residents said they were staying at home as rumors circulated that bombs would explode.
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