By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 11 October 2010
A political party formed by ex-colleagues of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said upcoming elections would be a “first step” towards democracy in army-ruled Burma, state media reported Monday.
“Now our country is in [a] transitional period to democracy,” National Democratic Force (NDF) chairman Than Nyein said in a policy address published in the English-language New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
“We assume that [the] forthcoming election is the first step of democratisation the people aspire for,” he added.
The NDF’s decision to contest the 7 November election has put it at odds with other former members of the National League for Democracy – including its leader Suu Kyi – who opted to boycott the poll because of “unjust” rules.
The vote, the first in 20 years, has been criticised by activists and many Western governments as a charade aimed at shoring up almost half a century of military rule.
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 ruling generals never allowed it to take office.
Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in detention and is barred as a serving prisoner from standing in the upcoming vote, which falls about a week before her current term of house arrest is due to end.
“We will try our best for human rights and democracy and to cope with [the] economic crisis and social sufferings faced by the people,” pursuing a market economy, free middle school education and better healthcare, the NDF said.
Source:http://www.dvb.no/elections/ndf-says-polls-%E2%80%98a-step-toward-democracy%E2%80%99/12151
Published: 11 October 2010
A political party formed by ex-colleagues of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said upcoming elections would be a “first step” towards democracy in army-ruled Burma, state media reported Monday.
“Now our country is in [a] transitional period to democracy,” National Democratic Force (NDF) chairman Than Nyein said in a policy address published in the English-language New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
“We assume that [the] forthcoming election is the first step of democratisation the people aspire for,” he added.
The NDF’s decision to contest the 7 November election has put it at odds with other former members of the National League for Democracy – including its leader Suu Kyi – who opted to boycott the poll because of “unjust” rules.
The vote, the first in 20 years, has been criticised by activists and many Western governments as a charade aimed at shoring up almost half a century of military rule.
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 ruling generals never allowed it to take office.
Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in detention and is barred as a serving prisoner from standing in the upcoming vote, which falls about a week before her current term of house arrest is due to end.
“We will try our best for human rights and democracy and to cope with [the] economic crisis and social sufferings faced by the people,” pursuing a market economy, free middle school education and better healthcare, the NDF said.
Source:http://www.dvb.no/elections/ndf-says-polls-%E2%80%98a-step-toward-democracy%E2%80%99/12151
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