Burma poll is ‘not free and not fair’

Burma's landmark elections this weekend will be neither free nor fair, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said today but vowed to continue standing for the sake of the nation.

She said government supporters had thrown stones at opposition candidates, campaign posters had been defaced and members of her party intimidated during the run-up to Sunday’s parliamentary by-elections.

Speaking for the first time since she halted campaigning because of exhaustion, the 66-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate said in Rangoon that government officials were involved in some of the abuses and that they went “beyond what is acceptable for democratic elections”.

“Still,” she said, “we are determined to go forward because we think this is what our people want.” She hoped “the courage and the resolution of people will overcome the intimidation”. The election will fill 45 vacant seats in the 664-seat national parliament. There have been months of surprising reforms, including the release of political prisoners, truces with rebel groups and an easing of media censorship.

The poll is seen by the West as a crucial test of the country’s commitment to change, with the possibility of some sanctions being lifted if it goes smoothly. President Thein Sein has admitted to “unnecessary errors” in ballot lists.

Today presidential adviser Nay Zin Latt said that “there could be some flaws and some bumps in the process, but our leaders have publicly said that their policy is to hold a free, fair and impartial election”. Ms Suu Kyi is expected to win the rural seat of Kawhmu, giving her a place in parliament for the first time since she began leading the struggle for democracy nearly 25 years ago.

She spent most of that time under house arrest and her candidacy has raised hopes of a more democratic government after almost 50 years of military rule. It could also set the stage for her to run for president in a national election in 2015.