Ko Ko Gyi will not be running in November’s election after his name was left off a list of approved opposition candidates, according to an interview with 7Day Daily.
The comments, which he made on Friday, reportedly come a day after he met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The activist, who spent some 17 years in prison and was at the forefront of the pro-democracy 88 Generation student movement, said he didn’t want to siphon off votes from the NLD by running separately.
“I have decided not to run in the election,” he said on Friday, adding that he made the move because he didn’t want votes “spreading.”
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy shocked observers earlier this month by putting forth a list of approved candidates that included only one former 88 Generation activist. More than a dozen stepped up to run for the NLD.
Other prominent names, such as Yangon University rector Aung Thu, were also excluded.
Photo of Ko Ko Gyi / Coconuts Yangon / Aung Naing Soe
