Page 36 - myanmar

SPOTLIGHT ON
ELECTIONS
THE ONLY POLL
THAT COUNTS
Why the 2015 election means real change
When the people of Myanmar cast their ballots on November 8, 2015, it was with significant concern. After more than half
a century of military rule, they knew this could be the moment their lives began to truly change. But many of them had been here before. When elections were held in 1990, the opposition National League for Democracy won by a landslide; the result was ignored by the military government of the day, dissenters continued to be silenced, and little changed.
But this time, the process and the position of the ruling generals were different. The government had
built in safeguards to the election process to guarantee the unelected military a minimum number of parliamentary seats. It said it would allow the remaining seats to be freely contested, under a process it called “disciplined democracy”.
National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a clear majority of seats. The party had performed well not only in the urban areas where their backing
is traditionally strongest, but also
in parts of the country where the military-backed USDP had been expected to win seats and in
areas with large ethnic-minority populations which had been tipped to back smaller parties.
The NLD took 80 per cent of the contested seats in the upper house,
and just shy of that in the lower house. That gives the NLD the right to lead the next parliament, which
is due to sit in early 2016, and to nominate the president. The party’s long time leader is currently ineligible to serve as president because the constitution bars anyone who has legitimate children with allegiance to a foreign power. Suu Kyi’s two adult sons have British citizenship. Shortly after the election, however, Suu Kyi stated her intention to be “above” the president.
President Thein Sein has said that the military and the nominally civilian government will accept the outcome of the election and work with
the opposition to ensure a stable transition.
In Myanmar, few things are certain, but all indications are that the election really does represent change and a significant step towards democracy and progress.
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