Aung San Suu Kyi has registered to run in the general election, which her party is expected to sweep as the ruling bloc admitted it was bracing for big losses.
Hundreds of cheering supporters gathered in the township of Thanlyin, a two-hour drive from Yangon, as Suu Kyi formally registered her intention to stand again for the rural constituency of Kawhmu in November polls.
The veteran activist, the first candidate confirmed by the National League for Democracy (NLD), was thronged by singing and flag-waving activists but did not address the crowd.
Candidates cannot begin campaigning until election officials give the green light, NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.
“Everyone is waiting for that,” he said.
The official campaign start date has been announced as September 8.
In contrast to the jovial atmosphere in Thanlyin, some of Suu Kyi’s main political opponents in Yangon revealed signs of creeping pessimism as tensions mount between the leader of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the powerful army.
The USDP, the semi-civilian reincarnation of the previous junta, which is packed with former soldiers, won by a landslide in dubious 2010 elections when it ran virtually unopposed. Suu Kyi remained under house arrest at the time and her party boycotted the vote.
But the ruling party has already started to manage expectations about its fate at the upcoming polls.
“We don’t expect a winning result like in 2010. It’s impossible,” USDP general secretary Maung Maung Thein told reporters at an event announcing Yangon regional candidates.
Relations have soured dramatically between the still powerful army and the party’s influential leader and parliamentary speaker Shwe Mann, who is widely considered a presidential hopeful. Shwe Mann has faced opposition from soldiers in his constituency in recent days over his readiness to support Suu Kyi in her efforts to change the constitution, which bars the opposition leader from top political office.
In contrast to the USDP general secretary, however, he said in an interview with the BBC’s Myanmar service this week that he was confident his party would do well in the elections and that he had “no worries.”
Text and photos: AFP
