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| Southeast Asia |
| Myanmar democracy activists let to form new party |
| 2010-07-10 |
| YANGON - Former members of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy have been allowed to form a new political party to run in upcoming elections, state media reported Friday. The activists have been granted permission to create the National Democratic Force (NDF) to stand in the military-ruled country’s first election in two decades some time this year, according to state TV and radio. The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register — a move that would have forced it to expel Suu Kyi — and opted to boycott the vote, which critics say is a sham designed to legitimise the junta’s half-century grip on power. Under election legislation unveiled in March, anyone serving a prison term is banned from being a member of a political party and parties that fail to obey the rule will be abolished. The NLD, which was founded in 1988 after a popular uprising against the junta that left thousands dead, won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the military rulers never allowed it to take office. Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in jail or house arrest. There have been signs of friction between older hardline opposition figures and younger more moderate figures who opposed the boycott decision. Former top NLD members have accused the NDF of copying their symbol of a bamboo hat and recently lodged a complaint with the election commission in the capital Naypyidaw about its use of the image in an official seal. So far 38 political parties out of 43 which applied to be recognised have been given permission to register ahead of the elections. |
| Posted by:Steve White |